India Storm Into Asian Games Final After Crushing Sri Lanka by 124 Runs

India produced a dominant all-round performance to storm into the final of the 2026 Asian Games men's T20 competition, defeating Sri Lanka by a massive 124 runs on Thursday.

India posted 169 for 7, powered by a brilliant unbeaten 80 off 46 balls from Ishan Kishan, before Jasprit Bumrah and the Indian bowling attack dismantled Sri Lanka for just 45 runs. The victory also set up a highly anticipated India-Pakistan final, with the gold medal now at stake.

Kishan's aggressive knock proved decisive on a difficult batting surface. The pitch was filled with cracks and offered considerable assistance to the bowlers, making India's total of 169 a challenging one.

Kishan survived several nervous moments, miscued a number of aerial strokes that landed safely, and was eventually dropped by Nuwanidu Fernando when he was on 56. He made the most of the reprieve, finishing unbeaten on 80 and steering India to a formidable total.

India's innings also received valuable support from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who scored 38, while Sri Lanka's bowlers Arachchige and Ratnayake claimed two wickets apiece.

Sri Lanka's chase, however, quickly turned into a nightmare.

Jasprit Bumrah delivered a superb spell, bowling Test-match lengths and exploiting the unpredictable surface to make life extremely difficult for the Sri Lankan batters. He finished with 2 for 7.

Axar Patel was equally effective, conceding very little and producing 14 dot balls on his way to figures of 2 for 8. Abhishek Sharma also claimed two wickets for just two runs.

Sri Lanka's batting collapse was compounded by poor running between the wickets, with the visitors suffering three run-outs, including two involving members of their top four.

India eventually completed the rout with a team hat-trick, dismissing Sri Lanka for just 45 runs.

The total was Sri Lanka's lowest in the match and the second-lowest score in men's Asian Games cricket. It also equalled the lowest total recorded by a Full Member side in men's T20Is, matching West Indies' 45 against England in 2019.

With the emphatic victory, defending champions India secured their place in the 2026 Asian Games final, where they will face arch-rivals Pakistan in a contest that will decide the men's cricket gold medal.