India reach the cricket and hockey finals as the Asian Games tally hits 64

India's men's cricket and hockey teams both reached gold-medal matches at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on 1 October, and the country's medal count moved to 64 by the evening tally. India Today counted six confirmed medals on the day, three silver and three bronze, with a further medal already assured in men's sepaktakraw. A later table published by India.com put the running total at 10 gold, 22 silver and 32 bronze, eighth overall. An earlier afternoon count had been 60, with 10 gold, 21 silver and 29 bronze. The difference is the evening's additions, not a revision of the morning.

The cricket semi-final was a mismatch in the second innings. Shreyas Iyer's side made 169 for 7. Sri Lanka were then bowled out for 45 in 9.5 overs. The margin was 124 runs. Ishan Kishan made an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, made 38 on his Asian Games debut. India will play Pakistan in the final. The batting detail that will travel is Kishan's strike rate and Sooryavanshi's age. The bowling detail that decided the match is the 45 all out. A total of 169 is defendable in a 20-over game. It is not usually enough to end the reply before the tenth over.

Hockey was closer, and it was the defending champion under pressure. India led Pakistan 3-0, then watched the lead disappear. Pakistan levelled. With 45 seconds left, Abhishek scored the goal that made it 4-3. Harmanpreet Singh had scored twice. Sukhjeet Singh had scored once. The semi-final therefore turned on a single late strike after a three-goal lead had been given back. India are in the final. Pakistan are out of the gold-medal match. For a side that had looked in control at 3-0, the relevant number is the 45 seconds, not the early margin.

The table around India explains why eighth place is the working rank. China led on 154 gold, 71 silver and 63 bronze, 288 in all. Japan, the host, sat second on 59 gold, 79 silver and 79 bronze, 217 medals. South Korea was third on 30, 30 and 53, a total of 113. Uzbekistan was fourth on 56. Iran fifth on 42. Thailand sixth on 38. Bahrain seventh on 21, with 11 gold. India's 10 gold leave it one behind Bahrain on the gold count and well ahead on total medals. Golds, not the 64, decide the place. Another gold in cricket or hockey would move the rank only if Bahrain do not add one of their own.

Sailing and squash supplied part of Thursday's confirmed medals, India Today said, alongside the two final berths. The sepaktakraw assurance means one more medal is already locked even if the match for colour is still to be played. That is a different kind of result from the cricket semi-final, where the medal is not yet won. Reaching a final guarantees a silver at worst in cricket and in hockey. Those two silvers are not in the 64 until the finals are played, or until a team is awarded the medal. Readers adding Thursday's headlines to the table should keep the finalists out of the gold column.

The debutant is the fact that will outlast the day's table. Sooryavanshi is 15, in a semi-final, with 38 runs in a total of 169. Kishan, at 80 not out off 46, was the innings. Iyer's side now have a final against Pakistan, the same opponent the hockey side just beat. Two India-Pakistan gold-medal matches in the same Games, on the back of a 124-run win and a 4-3 escape, are the sporting consequence of Thursday. The open question is whether the hockey side's habit of giving back a lead follows them into the final, because the semi-final showed they can lose a 3-0 advantage and still have 45 seconds left to recover it.