New Delhi: India’s women’s cricket team secured the country’s first gold medal at the Asian Games 2026 after defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the women’s cricket final at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.
The victory gave India a commanding start to its Asian Games campaign, with the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side producing a dominant all-round performance in the summit clash.
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma Lead India’s Batting Charge
India got off to a flying start as Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma stitched together a 99-run opening partnership. Shafali scored 48 runs off 29 balls before being dismissed.
Mandhana then continued the attack and scored 79 runs off 45 balls. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur could not make a major impact with the bat, but Mandhana kept the scoreboard moving before her dismissal.
Richa Ghosh then changed the momentum of the innings with a quickfire unbeaten 49 off 22 balls. Her knock helped India post 216 runs in the first innings, the highest-ever total in Asian Games cricket history.
Mandhana also completed 11,000 runs in international cricket during her impressive innings.
Indian Spinners Run Through Sri Lanka’s Batting
Chasing 217, Sri Lanka struggled against India’s spin attack. Shafali Verma followed her batting contribution with the ball, taking two wickets for just three runs in her two overs.
Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani also claimed three wickets each, while Shreyanka Patil picked up one wicket as India kept Sri Lanka under pressure throughout the innings.
Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu was the team’s main hope but could score only 29 runs from 21 balls before Deepti Sharma dismissed her in the seventh over.
After Athapaththu’s departure, Sri Lanka failed to build any significant partnership. None of the other batters managed to cross the 20-run mark as India completed a comprehensive 147-run victory.
India Retain Asian Games Women’s Cricket Gold
The triumph marks another major achievement for Indian women’s cricket at the Asian Games. India had won the women’s cricket gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games and have now retained the title with another dominant performance in the final.