22 September,2026 02:44 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Indian women`s team with the gold medal (Pic: AFP)
The Indian women's cricket team continued their recent dominant run, retaining their Asian Games gold medal with a dominant 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in Tuesday's final.
India's dominant triumph delivered the country's first gold medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Games, taking Team India's overall tally to seven medals.
Opting to bat first, India laid a foundation as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma built a 99-run partnership. Mandhana reached her 37th T20I half-century while simultaneously becoming the first female cricketer to achieve 11,000 international runs.
Mandhana's knock ended at 79 off 45 balls, featuring five boundaries and seven maximums. Richa Ghosh then spearheaded a late-overs attack on Sri Lankan bowlers, smashing an unbeaten 49 off 22 deliveries. India finished on 216/3, setting the highest-ever team total in Asian Games women's cricket history in what turned out to be a match-winning score.
Chasing 217 runs to win, Sri Lanka's top order faltered rapidly under pressure from India's spin attack.
Shafali struck early to remove Imesha Dulani for three, before Deepti Sharma got the prized wicket of Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu for a 21-ball 29. Deepti continued her tight spell, stopping the scoring and picking up key wickets in the middle order.
Shreyanka Patil and Shree Charani dismissed the remaining lineup as Sri Lanka lost wickets in nearly every over. From 41/2 at the end of the powerplay, the Sri Lankan side collapsed to 69 all out in 15.4 overs.
Deepti registered standout figures of 3/6 in four overs, well-supported by Charani (2/13), Shafali (2/3), and Shreyanka (2/9). The 147-run margin of victory capped off a dominant campaign for the Women in Blue as they successfully defended their Asian Games title.
India dominated with the bat and the ball to emerge as the champions at the Asian Games. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led team defeated Bangladesh in the semi-final before sealing the medal against Sri Lanka in the final.
Brief Scores: India: 216/3 (Smriti Mandhana 79, Richa Ghosh 49, Chamudi Praboda 1/34) beat Sri Lanka: 69/4 in 15.4 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 29, Kaushani Nuthyangana 14, Deepti Sharma 3/6).
