Shreyas Iyer’s Team India hammered Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the Asian Games 2026 semifinal in Nisshin on Thursday thanks to Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 80.
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Ishan Kishan en route to scoring 80 not out in Asian Games 2026 semifinal against Sri Lanka on Thursday(Photo: PTI)
Asian Games 2026: Ishan Kishan lived up to his billing of world No1 T20I batter with a match-winning knock of 80 not out in just 46 balls to set up Team India’s massive 124-run win over Sri Lanka to march into the Asian Games 2026 gold medal matchDefending champions will now take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the final at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Saturday.
Ishan Kishan’s blazing fifty set up India’s fighting total of 169 for 7 in 20 overs after being sent into bat but Sri Lanka crumbled for just 45 in 9.5 overs to ease entry of Shreyas Iyer’s side into the finalIndian opener Abhishek Sharma ended up with 2 for 2 in 5 balls as three Lankan wickets fell in the 10th over of their innings which proved to be last.
But the match result didn’t look a foregone conclusion when the T20 World Cup champions were struggling at 125 for 6 after 15 oversOn a Korogi Sports Park pitch which was offering appreciable turn and bounce to the spinners, no Indian batter barring Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could get going.
Sooryavanshi, who returned to the Indian playing 11 after being benched for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, set the tone with 38 off 21 balls with 2 sixes and six fours after Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson had been dismissed cheaply.
After Sooryavanshi’s dismissal, it was Kishan who took charge, notching up the highest-ever individual score by an Indian batter in T20I cricket batting at No5 or lower in batting orderHe broke the record of 79 not out by Manish Pandey against South Africa at Centurion in 2018Yuvraj Singh had scored 77 not out against Australia in Rajkot in 2013 while Hardik Pandya had notched up 71 not out vs Australia in Mohali in 2022.
WATCH Ishan Kishan hit a blazing fifty against Sri Lanka in Asian Games 2026 semifinal HERE…
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“IN HIS ARC, AND IT’S OUT OF THE PARK!”
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Kishan also notched up his eighth score of fifty or more in T20I cricket in 2026He surpassed the record of Virat Kohli, who had scored 7 fifties in 2016Only Kohli’s nine 50-plus scores in 2022 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 11 have surpassed Kishan.
(More to come)
