India takes the gold medal in cricket at the Asian Games, while Afghanistan has settle for the silver because of inclement weather.
After the Asian Games final match against Afghanistan was canceled due to weather, the Indian men’s cricket team won the gold medal.
For more than 20 minutes, the local volunteers did their best to keep the throng entertained despite the light rain, but as it grew heavier, the supporters began to move indoors in search of shelter.
The men’s cricket championship here at the Pingfeng Cricket Campus on Saturday was postponed an hour later, depriving the spectators of a conclusion and depriving Afghanistan of the opportunity to compete for a rare Asian Games gold medal. Due to their higher seeding in the competition, India was given the victory and the gold medal.
It was an unforgettable tournament experience for everyone involved when the Indian squad later emerged and rejoiced in the rain.
In the three matches it played, India hardly made a mistake, and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s team appeared poised to win. Afghanistan, who itself had a strong performance, would feel unjustly penalized after overcoming an early collapse to score 112/5 in 18.2 overs.
After a brief rainstorm postponed the scheduled start, the final was played under lights. Ruturaj may have decided to bowl first at the start of the match because of the impending rains, which had a significant impact on the outcome of the bronze medal match earlier in the day, on a cloudy afternoon.
In the batting powerplay, India’s four tall bowlers, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, and Sai Kishore, stood out thanks to the pitch’s added bounce. Mohammed Shahzad and Zubaid Akbari, the Afghanistan’s starting pair, were both defeated by the surface’s increased bounce.
When Dube delivered a length delivery, Akbari attempted to get across midfield, but his mistimed shot couldn’t clear Arshdeep, who finished the catch. Arshdeep then experienced a lucky break when the umpire ruled Shahzad was caught behind when the ball deviated off of his shoulders as he attempted to deflect a short ball aimed at him.
The next hitter to be out was Noor Ali Zadran, who had his own unfortunate luck due to a stupid decision to go for a second run after Ravi Bishnoi had already picked up the ball at the fine-leg boundary.
Before removing the bails to get Zadran short and bring Afghanistan’s score down to 12/3, Jitesh Sharma caught Bishnoi’s one-bounce throw over the stumps.
After the third over, Washington and Kishore were reintroduced. Both spinners were able to extract bounce with their height, which made it challenging for the Afghan batters to read off the pitch.
Afghanistan had trouble picking up Bishnoi, the best Indian bowler, as his googlies raced in through the pitch. The leggie initially just missed Afsar Zazai’s stumps, but then he bamboozled the batter and castled him with another incorrect delivery.
His final spell result was 4-0-12-1. After forcing Karim Janat to play for the spin, Shahbaz Ahmed defeated him by slipping through his defense.
Shahidullah (49 off 43 balls) and captain Gulabdin Naib (27 off 24) pulled up an important 60-run stand to stop Afghanistan’s decline and push them past 100 as the field’s skies started to become ominous.
Shahidullah ascended on anything that was short or in the slot, whether it came from Shahbaz or Kishore. After that, Gulbadin joined in, launching Kishore over far on for six before Shahidullah smacked an Arshdeep full toss over deep midwicket.
The rains returned before 4 p.m., with both sets of teams being led off the field, just as the two sets of hitters were poised for a last flourish in the closing innings.
