India successfully defended their Asian Games cricket gold medal, beating Pakistan by 19 runs in a gripping final at Nisshin on Saturday, despite a stunning rearguard century chance from Hasan Nawaz that fell agonisingly short off the very last ball.
Chasing 212 for victory, Pakistan looked out of the contest after losing both openers inside six overs, but Nawaz and Saim Ayub rebuilt with a stand of exactly fifty before Nawaz found another partner in Abdul Samad and dragged the chase deep into the final overs.
Nawaz brought up his half century off just 28 balls before accelerating further, striking Shivam Dube for back to back sixes in the final over as Pakistan chased an improbable 33 runs needed off the last six balls to steal the match away from India.
He could not quite complete the job, though, falling to the final delivery of the innings for 96 off 51 balls, including five fours and seven sixes, caught by Sanju Samson off Dube as Pakistan finished on 192 for six, India's bowlers just about holding their nerve.
Earlier, India had posted 211 for six after being sent in, built around a blistering 61 off 28 balls from Abhishek Sharma at the top and an unbeaten 51 off 22 from Tilak Varma, who guided the innings home after India had slipped to 133 for five.
Abhishek's innings also carried historical significance. One of his two early sixes against Pakistan took him to 400 sixes in recognised T20 cricket, reaching the milestone in 3,513 balls, the second fastest to do so behind only Andre Russell, who needed 3,027 balls to get there.
Chris Gayle, long considered the benchmark for six hitting in the format, needed 3,557 balls to reach 400, with Tim David fourth on the all time list at 3,803 balls and Kieron Pollard third at 3,044. Abhishek finished the match with five further sixes, taking his career tally to 405 in 208 innings.
Pakistan's bowlers, Arafat Minhas and Ahmed Daniyal among the more successful with two wickets apiece, had restricted India well in patches, but could not prevent Varma and Dube from adding 62 valuable runs together in the closing overs to push the total beyond 200.
The result completes India's defence of the title they won at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, extending their dominance in the head to head record against Pakistan in T20 internationals, where they now lead 14 wins to three from 18 meetings.