Ishan Kishan's unbeaten 80 lifts India to 169 for 7 in the Asian Games semi-final

Ishan Kishan's unbeaten 80 carried India to a competitive total in the Asian Games semi-final after Sri Lanka had squeezed the innings in the middle overs

India posted 169 for 7 in their 20 overs against Sri Lanka in the second semi-final of the men's cricket competition at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Thursday, leaving their opponents 170 to win in 120 balls and a place in the gold-medal match.

Kishan finished unbeaten on 80 from 46 balls, striking four fours and five sixes, and was the only Indian batter to pass fifty.

Sri Lanka captain Sahan Arachchige won the toss and put India in. His bowlers then kept India to a total his side will have to chase at 8.50 an over.

Sooryavanshi sets the tone

India's fastest scoring came at the top. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15 years old and making his Asian Games debut, hit 38 from 21 balls with six fours and two sixes before he fell.

The opener was picked ahead of a bowler, with Arshdeep Singh left out and Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson forming the top three.

His innings gave India a powerplay well above the rate they managed for the rest of the innings.

Sri Lanka squeeze the middle overs

Once Sooryavanshi was gone the scoring stalled. India had reached only 87 at one stage, with wickets falling at both the start and the end of the middle period.

Captain Shreyas Iyer was bowled by the seamer Wanuja Sahan, and Tharindu Ratnayake removed Shivam Dube.

Arachchige himself finished with 2-28 from his four overs, the captain taking on the hardest spell of the innings himself.

Lasith Croospulle, who also opens the batting, returned 1-13, and Sri Lanka took their seven wickets across the innings rather than in a single burst.

Seven wickets in 20 overs is the kind of return that usually keeps a side under 150.

Kishan holds the innings together

Kishan's answer was to clear the ropes rather than rotate. Five of his sixes cleared the ropes in a 46-ball innings, and they came at the stage when India's run rate most needed them.

He was there at the end, having taken India from a position where 150 looked optimistic to one that asks a question of a Sri Lanka side chasing under knockout pressure.

The arithmetic underlines how much of the innings he carried: Kishan faced 46 of the 120 balls and made 80 of the 169 runs, with the rest of the order contributing the remainder between them.

India also have Jasprit Bumrah to defend it, with Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi giving Iyer three spin options to call on.

A semi-final neither side had warmed up for

Both teams arrived here without having played since the group stage. Rain wiped out the entire quarter-final round, sending India and Sri Lanka through without a ball bowled.

That left Sri Lanka, who brought a much-changed squad to Japan, with no live cricket in which to settle before a knockout match.

India were in the same position, which made the early loss of momentum after the powerplay less surprising than it would be in a tournament where both sides had played through.

Pakistan already through

The winner will meet Pakistan, who beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the first semi-final earlier on Thursday.

That match was cut to 13 overs a side. Bangladesh made 111 for 7 and Pakistan passed it with 112 for 4 in 11.3 overs.

Innings break: India 169 for 7 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80 not out, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 38; Sahan Arachchige 2-28), with Sri Lanka set 170 to reach the gold-medal match.

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