The Indian cricket team delivered a commanding performance in the Asian Games 2026 semifinals, blowing away Sri Lanka by 124 runs to secure a place in the gold medal match. Led by captain Shreyas Iyer, India dominated every department of the contest from start to finish. Following this emphatic victory, India are set to take on arch-rivals Pakistan on October 3 in the final showdown for the gold medal. The standout highlight of the match was Ishan Kishan, whose aggressive and unbeaten half-century dismantled the Sri Lankan attack.
Rewriting Indian cricket history at number five
Ishan Kishan, currently ranked as the number-one batter in the ICC T20I batting rankings, extended his sensational run of form with an unbeaten 80. Entering the crease in the middle order, he counterattacked relentlessly to power the Indian innings. With this knock, Kishan registered the highest individual score by an Indian batter from the number-five position or lower in men's T20 Internationals.
In doing so, Kishan shattered an eight-year-old record previously held by Manish Pandey. Pandey had held the benchmark since 2018, when he struck an unbeaten 79 against South Africa at Centurion. Kishan has now leapfrogged some of the most decorated white-ball match-winners in Indian cricket to sit alone at the top of this leaderboard.
Highest T20I scores for India from number-5 or below
The elite list of Indian batters who have posted the highest scores batting from position five or lower in T20Is now stands as follows
- Ishan Kishan: 80 not out vs Sri Lanka, 2026
- Manish Pandey: 79 not out vs South Africa, 2018
- Yuvraj Singh: 77 not out vs Australia, 2013
- Hardik Pandya: 71 not out vs Australia, 2022
- Rinku Singh: 69 not out vs Afghanistan, 2024
- Rinku Singh: 68 not out vs South Africa, 2023
India's largest victory margin over Sri Lanka
The 124-run demolition also rewrote head-to-head records between the two subcontinental rivals. This margin stands as India's biggest ever win against Sri Lanka in T20 Internationals by runs. The previous milestone was a 93-run victory registered at Cuttack back in 2017.
For Sri Lanka, the heavy loss marked only their third defeat by a margin of 100 runs or more in T20 international cricket history. With full momentum on their side, Shreyas Iyer and his team now look ahead to their high-voltage gold medal contest against Pakistan on October 3.
