India’s women’s cricket team delivered the country its first gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games, producing a dominant 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Tuesday.
The win also saw India retain the women’s T20 cricket title, three years after beating Sri Lanka in the final at the Hangzhou Games. India became only the second team, after Pakistan, to successfully defend the Asian Games women’s cricket gold.
After winning the toss, Harmanpreet Kaur opted to bat and India immediately put Sri Lanka under pressure. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma added 99 for the opening wicket, becoming the first pair to reach 4,000 runs in T20Is. Shafali fell for 48, but Mandhana continued the assault.
Mandhana struck 79 from 47 balls, hitting five fours and seven sixes. In the process, she also completed 11,000 international runs, adding another milestone to a remarkable year. Richa Ghosh then provided the finishing surge. Promoted to No. 4, she smashed an unbeaten 49 from just 22 balls as India finished on 216/3, the highest total in the history of women’s cricket at the Asian Games.
Sri Lanka never came close to mounting a challenge in the chase. Shafali made an immediate impact with the ball, taking two wickets inside the Powerplay, before Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani continued to dismantle the Sri Lankan batting order.
Sri Lanka slipped to 49/6 inside 10 overs and were eventually bowled out for just 67. The 149-run difference gave India their biggest winning margin in women’s T20I cricket, surpassing their previous record of 144 runs against Malaysia in 2018.
The gold medal also extended India’s remarkable run since their early exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup. Harmanpreet’s side have now gone nine matches unbeaten, a sequence that includes their Test victory at Lord’s and their Women’s Asia Cup triumph earlier this month.
India had entered the Asian Games at the quarter-final stage and made quick work of their campaign, beating Japan before defeating Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semi-final.
The women’s gold has opened India’s medal account at the 2026 Asian Games. Sri Lanka took silver, while Pakistan claimed bronze.
