IND Vs BAN, Asian Games 2023, Men's Cricket Semi-final: Ruthless India Demolish Bangladesh To Confirm Medal, Gold Awaits - As It Happened

It was all too easy for India in the end. They came into the match with the vision on assuring a medal and advancing to the gold medal match, and did that with utmost comfort. The bowlers first restricted Bangladesh to a paltry 96, with the Indian spinners spinning a web around the Bangla batters and scalping eight of the nine wickets to fall. The batters, led by a rampaging Tilak Varma and equally aggressive skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, got the job done in a jiffy as India marched into the summit clash with a nine-wicket victory and 64 balls remaining. In the final on Saturday, India will play the winner of the last-four clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan (Streaming | Scorecard) later in the day. Catch the highlights of the IND vs BAN match, played at Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, Hangzhou, China. (Match Report | Scorecard | Full Coverage | Cricket News)

9:15am: Match Recap
It almost seemed like two different pitches in the two innings. The same wicket that was making strokeplay against spin hazardous for the Bangladesh batters, suddenly seemed like a docile one when the Indians strode out to bat. India did lose Yashasvi Jaiswal early, but skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and No. 3 Tilak Varma showed how it's done. Varma looked in his element and smashed an unbeaten 25-ball fifty (55 not out off 26 balls; two fours, six sixes), while Ruturaj too showed his class (40 not out off 26 balls; four fours, three sixes) as India cantered to a nine-wicket win with 64 balls to spare.    

9:11am: India Win! (IND 97/1 In 9.2 Overs)
That's it. Ruturaj finishes off the job with a gentle push to the off side. India march to the final with an emphatic nine-wicket win, with more than 10 overs to spare.

9:09am: Titak Hits Fifty! (IND 90/1 In 8.4 Overs)
And he gets there. Tilak smashes a half century off just 25 balls as India reach the doorstep of victory.   

9:03am: Tilak Nears Fifty (IND 82/1 In 8 Overs)
India making a mockery of the target here. Tilak is on to 47 in a flash and will look to get to his half century soon before Ruturaj knocks off the remaining runs.

8:56am: Tilak Joins Party (IND 67/1 In 5 Overs)
Tilak Varma doesn't want Ruturaj to have all the fun. He plays the aggressor role this time with a flurry of boundaries to race to an unbeaten 14-ball 35. Ruturaj gets strike back and matches him with a glorious inside out lofted cover drive for six.

8:46am: Ruturaj On Rampage (IND 36/1 In 3 Overs) 
Ruturaj is making up for his scratchy innings in the last game with an exhibiton of boundary-hitting here. He is already on to 25 runs off just eight balls and has struck two sixes and three fours. 

8:35am: India Lose Yashasvi! (0/1 In 0.4 Overs)
Bangladesh strike early! Ripon bowls a probing line and gets some movement and bounce to trouble Yashasvi, and it results in his wicket. Yashasvi does not get room and tries to flick it away, but the ball goes straight to Mrittunjoy Chowdhury at short fine leg.

8:32am: India Innings Begins (0/0 In 0.1 Overs)
Yashasvi Jaiswal takes strike first as the India innings begins. Ripon Mondol starts well with a sharp in-dipper that hits Yashasvi on the left glove. 

8:23am: Innings Recap
The Indian spinners have spun a web around Bangladesh, who could only manage a paltry total of 96/9. As many as 16 of the 20 overs in the innings involved spin, and eight of the nine wickets to fall went to spinners. Also goes to show this is a tough wicket to bat on, especially against the tweakers. It remains to be seen how the India batters fare on it though.

8:16am: Wicket Off Last Ball! (BAN 96/9 In 20 Overs)
The Bangladesh innings ends with a paltry 96 runs on the board, and Arshdeep gets his first wicket and the first wicket by a non-spinner in this innings. Ripon Mondol goes for a heave off a length ball, but it ends up  in the hand of the midwicket fielder. 

8:02am: Shahbaz Gets Debut Wicket! (BAN 81/8 In 17 Overs)
Debutant Shahbaz Ahmed gets a wicket too as the Bangladesh batters' procession continues. Rakibul Hasan plays a good cameo (14 runs off 6 balls) but perishes in the quest for more quick runs.

7:56am: Bishnoi With A Wicket! (BAN 65/7 In 15.5 Overs)
Ravi Bishnoi joins the spin party with a wicket as Bangladesh lose their seventh. Bishnoi with a wrong-un which southpaw Mrittunjoy Chowdhury has little idea about, and he edges it through to keeper Jitesh Sharma, who takes a good catch.

7:53am: India Tighten Screws (BAN 63/6 In 15 Overs)
Sai bowls another economical over, and Shahbaz finally comes in with his first over as India continue the spin onslaught on the Bangladesh batters. India still keeping things tight, and very few runs on offer. 

7:43am: Sai With His 3rd Wicket! (BAN 58/6 In 12.4 Overs)
Bangladesh lose their sixth wicket to spin. Sai Kishore picks up his third scalp, as another mishit balloons up, this time to short third man, and Dube takes an easy catch. 

7:34am: Sai Gets 2nd Scalp (BAN 45/5 In 10.3 Overs)
Sai Kishore continues his good start to international cricket and gets his second wicket of the day. Shahadat Hossain turns the bat face and is caught at backward point. Bangladesh tottering here. 

7:23am: Tilak With A Wicket! (BAN 36/4 In 8.4 Overs)
Part-timer Tilak Varma too gets a wicket as Bangladesh now in disarray. Opener Emon has to go after miscuing an attempted slog to extra cover, where skipper Ruturaj runs back to complete the catch. 

7:13am: Washington With 1 More Wicket! (BAN 21/3 In 6 Overs)
Another one for Washington. New batter Zakit Hasan tries to go for a big one to a flighted delivery outside off, but ends edging up and it flies straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal at first slip, who takes a sharp catch.

7:11am: Washington Gets Wicket (BAN 21/2 In 5.4 Overs)
Washington joins the act with another wicket for India, the big one of Bangladesh skipper Saif Hassan. Saif tries to sweep one fine, but it ends straight into fine leg's lap.  

7:05am: Sai Kishore Gets Wicket (BAN 18/1 In 4.2 Overs)
Sai Kishore comes into the attack. Mahmudul Hasan Joy goes for the big heave-ho, and a comfortable catch at mid on. Sai Kishore strikes with his third ball.

6:59am: Washington In Attack (BAN 18/0 In 4 Overs)
Another tight over from Arshdeep, with just four runs from it, and off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar comes in to bowl from the other end. He gets some turn early doors and bowls with good control to give away just three runs in a powerplay over.

6:55am: Dube Hit For Biggie (BAN 11/0 In 2 Overs)
Batting all-rounder Shivam Dube starts from the other end. Decent first two deliveries, but Emon welcomes him with an imperious lofted hit over deeo backward square leg. 

6:50am Top First Over (BAN 1/0 In 1 Over)
Arshdeep with a splendid opening over, asking all sorts of questions with a probing line and ball shaping both ways. Just one run off it.

6:46am: Play Underway
Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has the ball in hand and he starts proceedings for India. Good ball straightaway, nipping back in to the southpaw Parvez Hossain Emon, and then taking one away. 

6:41am: Anthem Time
The two teams are out in the middle and the national anthems now playing out. As was the case last time, a lot of pride and emotion evident among the young players, who have got this rare opportunity to represent the country at a prestigious multi-sport event.

6:33am Line-Ups
India XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, R Sai Kishore, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh 
Bangladesh XI: Parvez Hossain Emon, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Saif Hassan (c), Afif Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Jaker Ali (wk), Rakibul Hasan, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Hasan Murad, Ripon Mondol

6:26am: India To Bowl First
Ruturaj has won the toss and opted to bowl first.  

6:25am: Toss
The toss is happening now. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Saif Hassan walking out to the middle.  

6:19am Toss Update
The toss hasn't happened yet as there was some rain around the venue a while back. It has subsided now, and the covers have come off. We will share an update on the timing as soon as we have one. 

6:12am: Squads

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Mukesh Kumar, Prabhsimran Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Deep

Bangladesh: Parvez Hossain Emon, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Saif Hassan (c), Afif Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Jaker Ali (wk), Rishad Hossain, Sumon Khan, Rakibul Hasan, Ripon Mondol, Mosaddek Hossain, Yasir Ali, Tanvir Islam, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.

5:50am: Preview

The Cricket World Cup 2023 could be grabbing the eyeballs but India's semi-final match against Bangladesh at the Asian Games 2023 could be of major importance. The women's team have already won the gold medal and the men's team are favourites too, but Bangladesh are no pushovers. Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co. were quite dominant in their win against Nepal in the quarter-final and a repeat performance against the Bangla Tigers could send them to the final.