Spinners take Indian men’s team into Asian Games final

Indian men’s cricket team had a much smoother ride in their semi final clash against Bangladesh in comparison to their quarter final game against Nepal. Having won the toss, India opted to bowl this time. India decided to introduce the spinners right during the powerplay and this decision worked in their favour. Sai Kishore struck in the fifth over as Mahmudul Joy departed after having scored just 5 runs. Washington Sundar picked up 2 wickets in the very next over reducing Bangladesh to 21 for the loss of 3 wickets at the end of the powerplay. Bangladesh never really picked up from that point either in terms of building partnerships or in terms of scoring at a quick rate. They ended their innings at a score of 96 for the loss of 9 wickets. 8 of these wickets had been taken by spinners. 

India’s chase suffered from an early setback when Yashasvi Jaiswal who had become the youngest Indian to score a T20 century in the previous match departed without scoring any runs in the first over. However a blazing half century from Tilak Verma who had also picked up a wicket with ample support from Rituraj Gaikwad at the other end ensured that India reached the target with 64 balls to spare at the loss of 1 wicket. The final will be held on October 6th wherein India would face either Pakistan or Afghanistan.