India beat Sri Lanka to claim Asian Games gold
Harmanpreet Kaur-led side gave India their second-ever gold medal in women's cricket at the Asian Games.
India inflicted a heavy 147-run defeat over Sri Lanka to claim the gold medal in women's cricket at the 2026 Asian Games.
Led by Smriti Mandhana's 79 off 45 deliveries, coupled with useful knocks from Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh, India posted a mammoth 216/3 in their 20 overs.
Sri Lanka's chase never really got going despite efforts from Chamari Athapaththu who scored 29 off 21 deliveries, as they kept losing wickets at the other end as the Indian spinners ran through the Sri Lankan batting order.
Harmanpreet Kaur opted to bat first in the gold-medal match and her decision was instantly vindicated by the opening pair of Verma and Mandhana who took the attack to the Sri Lankan bowlers from the word go to stitch a damaging opening stand that fell just one run short of a hundred.
Despite Chamudi Praboda dismissing Verma two runs shy of her fifty, there was no stopping the Indian batting line-up. Mandhana continued her assertive approach at the other end and she was joined by Ghosh who delivered the finishing punch after captain Harmanpreet's dismissal.
Ghosh's 49 off 22 deliveries took India beyond the 200-run mark which gave the team a solid platform to clinch the gold.
Verma who laid the foundation for India with the bat did the early damage with the ball as he sent Imesha Dulani and Hasini Perera back in the hut inside the first five overs.
Sri Lanka's hopes were all but extinguished when Deepti Sharma got rid of Athapaththu in the seventh over leaving the 2022 silver-medallists a mountain to climb.
Shreyanka Patil and Sree Charani then got into the act to rip through the Sri Lankan middle-order and take India on the brink of victory. India bowled Sri Lanka out inside 16 overs to record a big win and claim their second successive gold medal in women's cricket at the Asian Games.
Sharma finished with three wickets with Verma, Sree Charani and Patil picking up two wickets each.
For Sri Lanka, who were also second best to India in the Asia Cup, the Asian Games ended with a creditable silver medal.
Pakistan claim bronze
Pakistan secured the bronze medal in the Asian Games women's cricket event, beating Bangladesh by 31 runs at Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Tuesday.
Put in to bat, Pakistan slipped to 67/5 before captain Fatima Sana anchored a recovery, her 30-ball 45 built around three sixes and three fours. A 67-run stand with Aliya Riaz (25) lifted Pakistan to 145/8. Bangladesh's reply never got going after early strikes from Umm-e-Hani, whose 3/10 marked her best T20I figures, restricted them to 114/7.
The result gives Pakistan their third Asian Games cricket medal, after winning gold in 2010 and 2014, and avenges their bronze-medal defeat to Bangladesh at the 2022 Games.