Nisshin: India won its first gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games on Tuesday after the women's cricket team defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the women's Twenty20 final at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan.
The victory allowed India to retain the women's cricket title it won at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. It was India's second consecutive gold medal in the event.
India won the toss and chose to bat first. The defending champions scored 216 for three in 20 overs. Sri Lanka were then bowled out for 69 in 15.4 overs, giving India a 147 run victory.
Smriti Mandhana led India's batting with 79 from 45 balls. She struck five fours and seven sixes and played a major role in giving India a strong start.
Mandhana and Shafali Verma put together an opening partnership of 99 runs. Verma scored 48 from 29 balls, including three fours and three sixes, before falling just short of her half century.
Mandhana continued to attack after Verma's dismissal before she was eventually dismissed for 79. Her innings also marked a major personal milestone, as she became the first woman cricketer to reach 11,000 international runs.
Richa Ghosh provided the late acceleration India needed. She remained unbeaten on 49 from 22 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes. Her aggressive innings helped India move beyond the 200 run mark and post the highest women's cricket total recorded at an Asian Games.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who led India in the final, scored 19 from 17 balls. Bharti Fulmali finished unbeaten on seven as India completed a strong first innings.
Sri Lanka needed 217 runs to win but struggled against India's bowling attack.
Deepti Sharma was India's leading bowler, taking three wickets for six runs from four overs. Shafali Verma, Sree Charani and Shreyanka Patil took two wickets each as India's bowlers kept pressure on Sri Lanka throughout the innings.
Captain Chamari Athapaththu was Sri Lanka's highest scorer with 29 runs. After her dismissal, Sri Lanka continued to lose wickets and were eventually bowled out for 69 in 15.4 overs.
The final was a repeat of the women's cricket gold medal match from the 2023 Asian Games, when India also defeated Sri Lanka to win the title.
The two teams had also met in the Women's Asia Cup final earlier in September. India defeated Sri Lanka in that match, adding another major victory over the same opponent before the Asian Games final.
India reached the Asian Games final after defeating Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semifinal. Sri Lanka secured its place in the final by defeating Pakistan.
Pakistan later won the bronze medal after defeating Bangladesh by 31 runs in the bronze medal match. Sri Lanka took silver after its defeat by India in the final.
The gold medal gave India its first gold of the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games and completed the women's cricket team's successful defence of its 2023 title.