Hyderabad, Sept. 22: India won its first gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games after the women’s cricket team defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs on Tuesday.
The Harmanpreet Kaur led side posted 216 for three before bowling Sri Lanka out for 69 in 15.4 overs.
The victory at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, gave India its second consecutive Asian Games women’s cricket gold.
India had also defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games, held in 2023.
Smriti Mandhana top scored for India with 79 runs from 45 balls. Shafali Verma added 48 from 29 balls.
Mandhana and Shafali put together a 99 run opening partnership to give India a strong start.
Richa Ghosh then provided the late acceleration with an unbeaten 49 from 22 balls. India finished with 216 for three, the highest total in the history of women’s cricket at the Asian Games.
India Bowlers Seal 147 Run Asian Games Victory
Sri Lanka struggled during the chase and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Captain Chamari Athapaththu was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with 29 runs. The team was eventually bowled out for 69.
Deepti Sharma led India’s bowling attack with three wickets for six runs. Shafali Verma, Shree Charani and Shreyanka Patil also took wickets as India completed the victory.
The gold medal is India’s first at the ongoing 2026 Asian Games. India had entered the final after defeating Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semifinal.
Sri Lanka reached the final after beating Pakistan by eight wickets.
Pakistan later defeated Bangladesh by 31 runs in the bronze medal match to claim third place.
Mandhana also reached a major career milestone during the final. She became the first woman cricketer to score 11,000 international runs.
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