India Beat Pakistan by 19 Runs to Win Asian Games Cricket Gold

India beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the gold medal match of the Asian Games 2026 men's cricket tournament on Saturday, defending the title they won at Hangzhou 2022. Chasing 212 at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Pakistan finished on 192 for six, with Hasan Nawaz's stunning 96 off 51 balls the standout innings of the final.

India's innings: 211 for six

India won the toss and chose to bat, and their top order came out swinging. Abhishek Sharma smashed 61 off just 28 balls with seven sixes, and after a middle overs slowdown engineered by Pakistan's spinners, Tilak Varma produced a brutal finish with an unbeaten 51 off 22 balls. Shivam Dube's 27 off 15 balls pushed India past 200 in a 62 run stand with Tilak.

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For Pakistan, Arafat Minhas was the pick of the bowlers with three for 25, while Ahmed Daniyal took two for 43. Saim Ayub bowled a tidy spell of three overs for 24 runs and Abrar Ahmed finished with one for 29.

Pakistan's chase: 192 for six

Pakistan's chase never quite got going against India's spin twins. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar each took two for 29, removing the top order cheaply: captain Sahibzada Farhan fell for 10, Usman Khan for 3, and Maaz Sadaqat for 23.

Then Hasan Nawaz took over. The young batter hammered 96 off 51 balls with five fours and seven sixes, dragging Pakistan back into a contest that had looked gone. He found support from Saim Ayub, who made 29 off 22, but when Nawaz fell in the final over with the asking rate out of reach, Pakistan closed on 192 for six. Saad Masood's unbeaten 12 off five balls came too late.

Silver lining for Pakistan

Defeat hurts, but this was still a historic campaign. It was Pakistan's first ever appearance in an Asian Games men's cricket final, and the silver is their first men's cricket medal at the Games. Pakistan had reached the final with a six wicket win over Bangladesh in a rain reduced 13 over semi-final, while India crushed Sri Lanka by 124 runs.

India, led by Shreyas Iyer, remain the team to beat in this format at the Asian Games. For Pakistan, the emergence of names like Hasan Nawaz, Saim Ayub and Sufyan Moqim at a multi sport event is the bigger story going forward.

Sources: ESPNcricinfo; Cricbuzz; Sporting News; Khel Now.