Asian Games cricket: India and Pakistan to meet for first time for gold, Sri Lanka bowled out for 45

India and Pakistan will face each other for the first time for the gold medal in men's cricket at the 20th Asian Games, currently underway in Japan.

In the second semifinal held on Thursday at Korogi Sports Park in Nishin, India defeated Sri Lanka by 124 runs. Having lost the toss and batted first, India posted 169 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted overs. Ishan Kishan remained unbeaten on 80 off 46 balls, including 5 sixes and 4 fours, for India. Vaibhav Suryavanshi added 38 runs.

Chasing 170, Sri Lanka's innings folded for just 45 runs in 9.5 overs, with Nuwanindu Fernando's 15 the highest score. Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma were the successful bowlers, taking two wickets each.

Earlier, in the first semifinal reduced to 13 overs due to rain, Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 6 wickets. Bangladesh had scored 111 runs for 7 wickets, aided by Towhid Hridoy's 42 runs. Pakistan reached the target in 11.3 overs for the loss of 4 wickets, with Abdul Samad remaining unbeaten on 30 off 15 balls. Sufiyan Moqeem took 3 wickets.

The gold medal final will be held on Saturday, with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka playing for the bronze medal on the same day.

The Nepali team had reached the quarterfinals as group winners, but after their match against Sri Lanka could not start due to rain, Sri Lanka advanced to the semifinals on seeding.