Abhishek Sharma's 61 from 28 balls lifts India to 211 for 6 in the Asian Games final

India have set Pakistan 212 to win Asian Games men's cricket gold, Abhishek Sharma's 20-ball fifty and Tilak Varma's unbeaten 51 lifting them to 211 for 6 at Korogi Sports Park

Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat in Nisshin, and India answered with the highest total of the tournament, 211 for 6 from their 20 overs. Pakistan need 212 runs in 120 balls to take the gold medal.

The innings was framed at both ends. Abhishek Sharma took it away inside the powerplay with 61 from 28 balls, and Tilak Varma closed it with 51 not out from 22.

India were 94 for 3 after eight overs when Abhishek was stumped, and the scoring rate never fell away from there.

A fifty in twenty balls

Abhishek reached fifty in 20 balls, the fastest by an India batter against Pakistan in a men's T20 international. He brought it up with a six over cover off Ahmed Daniyal in the sixth over.

He finished with three fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 217.86, taking 15 from six balls off Saim Ayub and 19 from eight off Daniyal.

Short bowling went square on the back foot and the spinners were met down the pitch, with most of the damage done straight and to leg.

He opened alongside Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and from the first over Pakistan found no length that held him.

It was his seventh T20I fifty. He fell in the eighth over, charging Arafat Minhas, missing a quicker ball and being stumped by Usman Khan.

Pakistan claw back the middle overs

Minhas's wicket was the one that let Pakistan back in, and India lost three inside the first eight overs.

Ahmed Daniyal was the most expensive of the attack, conceding at better than 14 an over to finish with 2-43, though two of the wickets that checked India were his.

Pakistan came into the final unchanged from the semi-final they won against Bangladesh by six wickets, keeping faith with the attack that saw off a rain-shortened semi-final.

Tilak and Dube take the closing overs

Tilak Varma's unbeaten 51 from 22 balls carried three fours and four sixes, and it arrived at the point the innings needed restarting.

Shivam Dube kept him company with 27 from 15, two fours and two sixes, the pair turning the last overs into the passage that settled the total.

Axar Patel was unbeaten alongside Tilak when the 20 overs ran out, India having added more than a hundred after Abhishek's dismissal.

A target beyond Pakistan's best chase

India's 211 is the highest total of the Asian Games men's competition, and a larger target than Pakistan have run down in any men's T20 international.

The chase begins against the attack that bowled Sri Lanka out for 45 in the semi-final, with Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi all available to Iyer.

A first gold-medal meeting

This is the first time India and Pakistan have met in men's cricket at the Asian Games, and Pakistan's first appearance in the men's final. Gold is being decided in Japan, at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

India came through by beating Sri Lanka by 124 runs, Ishan Kishan's unbeaten 80 having carried them to 169 for 7 before Sri Lanka collapsed.

Sri Lanka took bronze earlier on Saturday, beating Bangladesh by 63 runs at the same ground.

Scorecard: India 211 for 6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 61, Tilak Varma 51*, Shivam Dube 27; Ahmed Daniyal 2-43) v Pakistan, Asian Games final, Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin.

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