Rapid half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma  and Tilak Verma at either end of their innings set India up to defend their Asian Games men’s gold with a 19 run win over Pakistan in Nisshin. The final pitted a full-strength India against a second-string Pakistan, and the first two-thirds of the contest went alongside expected lines, but a stunning 51-ball 96 from Hasan Nawaz ensured there was a tense finish. With this result, India have a 4-3 advantage over Pakistan in finals of major tournaments (five or more teams) across formats.

The pitch in Nisshin was another slow, grippy turner, but the smallness of the outfield meant spinners were under constant pressure to hit their lengths consistently. India hit 15 sixes, and Pakistan ten – that perhaps summed up the difference between the two sides. India had more pedigreed T20 hitters in their line-up, and bowlers with better control too. In packing their side with allrounders, though, they were also perhaps a frontline bowler light, and it showed in the figures of their fourth, fifth and sixth bowlers – Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek and Shivam Dube went for a combined 100 in eight overs.

It was clear from the start that Pakistan’s bowling lacked the pinpoint control to contain a line-up as explosive as India’s. And their plans seemed a little iffy too. For instance, they brought on Saad Masood, a legspinning allrounder making his T20I debut, in the second over against the left-left pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek. In an over reminiscent of Abrar Ahmed to Ishan Kishan in the T20 World Cup earlier this year – a similar match-up that Kishan dominated – Saad went for 24 runs in the over, conceding three sixes and a four.

Sooryavanshi was caught behind off Saim Ayub off the first ball of the next over, earning a look of disgust from his partner – it seemed to communicate his disapproval of Sooryavanshi’s choice of shot, the reverse-sweep. The rest of Abhishek’s innings showed why he may have been disappointed in Sooryavanshi. He tore Pakistan’s attack to shreds, but pretty much all his shots followed a broad plan: sit on the back foot as much as possible, and use the slowness of the pitch to his advantage by shortening the lengths of the spinners. Pakistan’s spinners, for their part, obliged him with some long-hops of their own.

Abhishek hit seven sixes in 27 balls before he fell trying to hit another, undone by low bounce after stepping out to the left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas. At that stage, with India 93 for 3 in 7.5 overs, it looked like Abhishek had batted Pakistan out of the game.

Pakistan’s spin quintet – both teams played just one frontline seamer each – regrouped, though, and conceded just 28 runs in six overs, while taking the wickets of Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, to have India 142 for 5 after 16.

But Pakistan’s control loosened thereafter. Where they had been guilty of bowling too short at the start of India’s innings, they erred too full now, and began feeding Tilak and Shivam Dube with slot balls. They hit six sixes between them in the last four overs, four of them coming off successive balls across the 18th and 19th overs. Ahmed Daniyal, Pakistan’s lone seamer, dismissed Dube off the first ball of the final over, but Tilak ensured there would be no let-up in the hitting, finishing the innings with 6, 6, 2, 1, reaching his half-century along the way.

India scored 69 off their last four overs, and once again looked to have batted Pakistan out of the game.

Pakistan began their chase with a 33-run opening stand during which Sahibzada Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat kept finding the boundary off the edge. That stand ended when Farhan middled a slog-sweep off Washington Sundar straight to deep midwicket.

False shots continued to bring Pakistan runs through their innings. In all, their batters would score 51 off 49 not-in-control balls, as against India’s 12 off 25. Luck certainly played its part in evening this contest.

The other major factor, however, was Nawaz. He walked in when Pakistan were going nowhere, and 36 for 2 soon became 39 for 3 in 6.1 overs. Nawaz himself took his time early on, and could have been out for 4 off 11 had a collision between Sooryavanshi at long-off and Bishnoi at long-on not caused the former to spill a catch off Abhishek.

But that moment of fortune seemed to flick a switch in Nawaz, and suddenly he began holding his shape beautifully through his big hits. He hit three sixes off the next five balls he faced, off Abhishek and Bishnoi. With Ayub also beginning to pepper the boundary at the other end, India began to worry. The pair put on 87 off 48 balls, with Nawaz by far the dominant partner, contributing 57 off 26.

When Dube came on in the 15th over and immediately removed Ayub, Pakistan needed 86 from 35 with six wickets in hand. Nawaz continued to keep Pakistan in the contest, but by this stage both teams were very aware that there was one Jasprit Bumrah over remaining. He started it with Pakistan needing 44 off 12, and finished it with the equation reading 33 from 6. Debutant Saad hit his one minor misstep – a low full-toss – for a straight six, but the other five balls were near-unhittable, either searing yorkers or slower cutters that gripped and lost a lot of pace off the pitch.

Pakistan were still not out of it mathematically, and it came down to the lumbering Dube – who had bowled a similarly nervy final over in the T20 World Cup semi-final earlier this year, conceding 22 when England had needed 30. Here he gave away a four off the first ball and a wide immediately after, but a pinpoint yorker next up ensured the match was all but sealed mathematically. Nawaz slogged the fourth ball for six to get in sight of a hundred, but his top-edged hook off the final ball settled in Sanju Samson’s gloves, leaving him four runs short.

Scores:
India 211 for 6 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi 15, Abhishek Sharma 61, Shreyas Iyer 21, Ishan Kishan 20, Tilak Varma 51*, Shivam Dube 27; Saim Ayub 1-47, Ahmed Daniyal 2-43, Arafat  Minhas 2-25, Abrar Ahmed 1-29) beat Pakistan 192 for 6 in 20 overs  (Sahibzada Farhan 10, Maaz Sadaqat 23, Hasan Nawaz 96, Saim Ayub 29, Saad Masood 12*; Axar Patel 2-29, Washington Sundar 2-29, Shivam Dube 2-33) by 19 runs

[Cricinfo]

Scores:
Sri Lanka 165/9 in 20 overs [Sahan Arachchige 33, Ashen Bandara 18, Thjarindu Rathnayake 65; Mahedi Hasan 2-19, Al Islam 1-18, Rishad Hossain 1-46, Saif Hasan 2-28, Mustafizur Rahman 2-43] beat Bangladesh 102/10 in 17.3 overs [Parvez Hossain Emon 20, Towhid Hridoy 11, Yasir  Ali 21, Rishad Hossain 10, Nasum Ahmed 26; Nuwan Thushara 2-18, Tharindu Rathnayake 2-18, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-26, SahanArachchige 1-09, Wanuja Sahan 2-17, Dushan Hemantha 1-11] by 63 runs.

[Cricbuzz]

Opening batter Sineth Jayawardena has charged into the Sri Lanka T20I squad for the series against Pakistan, while Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has claimed the legspinner’s spot in the absence of the injured Wanindu Hasaranga. Seam-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickremesinghe has also been named, as has batter Sahan Arachchige, while seamer Binura Fernando makes a return.

Omitted from the squad were the likes of batter Charith Asalanka, fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka, ambidextrous spinner Tharindu Rathnayake, and batting allrounder Janith Liyanage.

Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was named in the squad, but his participation is subject to fitness.

Jayawardena, 21, has got his call-up because of an outstanding recent run in domestic T20s. In the past month, he has struck 101 off 52 and 82 off 32 for Tamil Union Cricket Club in the club T20 competition. He has played a single T20I, at the ongoing Asiad, but otherwise has never been part of a full-strength Sri Lanka side.

Others, such as Wickramasinghe, Arachchige, and Viyaskanth have earned their call-ups through years of performance at domestic level. Each of these players has appeared in T20 internationals for Sri Lanka before, but with the national team having had little success in this format in 2026, this inclusion represents their best chance yet to embed themselves within the side.

The three T20Is, which are all set to be played in Rawalpindi, will begin on October 9.

Sri Lanka squad :

Kamil Mishara, Sineth Jayawardena, Kusal Mendis (capt.), Lahiru Udara, Sahan Arachchige, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera (subject to fitness)