Nagoya, Japan: The Indian women’s cricket team delivered a memorable performance at the 2026 Asian Games, defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to retain its women’s cricket gold medal and hand India its first gold of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India produced an all-round display at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Tuesday. After winning the toss, India chose to bat first and put up a massive 216/3 in 20 overs, setting Sri Lanka a challenging target.
Smriti Mandhana Leads India’s Batting Charge
Smriti Mandhana was at the center of India’s strong batting performance. The left-hander scored brilliant 79 runs from 45 balls, striking five fours and seven sixes.
Her innings was particularly significant as Mandhana also became the first woman cricketer to cross 11,000 international runs, adding another milestone to an already special day.
Shafali Verma provided India with an aggressive start, scoring 48 runs, while wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh finished the innings strongly with an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls. Their contributions helped India post the highest women’s cricket total recorded at the Asian Games.
Indian Bowlers Complete a Dominant Victory
Sri Lanka’s chase never really gathered momentum. India’s bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and restricted the opposition to just 69 runs in 15.4 overs.
Deepti Sharma was among the leading performers with the ball, while Shafali Verma, Sree Charani and Shreyanka Patil also made important contributions as India bowled Sri Lanka out. The 147-run margin was India’s biggest-ever victory by runs in women’s T20I cricket.
Back-to-Back Asian Games Gold for India
The victory also continued India’s impressive run-in women’s cricket at the Asian Games.
India won the inaugural women’s cricket gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games after defeating Sri Lanka in the final. Three years later, the same two teams met again in the gold-medal match, with India once again emerging victorious.
With this win, India successfully defended its Asian Games women’s cricket title and became only the second nation, after Pakistan, to win the women’s cricket gold at two consecutive editions of the Games.
India Opens Its Gold Medal Account
The triumph was particularly important for the Indian contingent because it gave the country its first gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games.
India had already collected silver and bronze medals in the opening days of the competition, but the women’s cricket team’s emphatic victory finally put a gold medal on the country’s tally.
For Harmanpreet Kaur and her team, the victory adds another chapter to India’s growing success in women’s cricket. With a powerful batting display followed by disciplined bowling, the team made its intentions clear from the opening over and never allowed Sri Lanka to regain control of the final.
The gold medal in Aichi-Nagoya also gives India a strong start to its campaign at the 2026 Asian Games, with the country’s athletes continuing to compete across multiple sporting disciplines.
Key Highlights:
- India defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final.
- India scored 216/3 in 20 overs.
- Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69.
- Smriti Mandhana scored 79 off 45 balls.
- Mandhana crossed 11,000 international runs.
- India retained the Asian Games women’s cricket gold.
- The victory gave India its first gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games.
- India has now won the women’s cricket gold at two consecutive Asian Games.
