Mandhana hit seven sixes in 45 balls, and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69
India retained their Asian Games women’s cricket gold in Nisshin, beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs after posting the highest total the tournament has produced.
Sep 22, 2026
Smriti Mandhana faced 45 balls in the Asian Games women’s cricket final and hit seven of them for six. By the time she was out India had a total Sri Lanka were never going to get near, and the gold medal match at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin turned into a 147-run win and a second straight continental title.
The opening stand did most of the damage
Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and batted. Mandhana and Shafali Verma then put on 99 for the first wicket, and the powerplay was gone before Sri Lanka had worked out a length to bowl. Mandhana’s 79 came off 45 balls with five fours and seven sixes, and somewhere in the middle of it she became the first woman to reach 11,000 international runs. Shafali made 48 from 29.
Richa Ghosh came in late and still finished unbeaten on 49 from 22 balls, with six fours and three sixes. Harmanpreet added 19. India closed on 216 for 3, the highest total women’s cricket has produced at an Asian Games.
Sri Lanka lasted 15.4 overs
Chasing 217, Sri Lanka needed the innings of somebody’s life. They got 29 off 21 balls from their captain Chamari Athapaththu, and almost nothing from anyone else. They were bowled out for 69.
Deepti Sharma finished with 3 for 6. Shreyanka Patil took 2 for 9 and had the last wicket. Shree Charani and Shafali took two apiece, which left India’s spinners with nine of the ten.
The second final between these two in nine days
India and Sri Lanka had already met in a final on 13 September, in Dubai, where India won the Women’s Asia Cup by 72 runs. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 111 that night chasing 184. Nine days later the beating was twice as heavy.
These two also played off for gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, which India won. Sri Lanka’s answer to all of it is the 2024 Asia Cup final in Dambulla, which they won.
India’s first gold of Aichi-Nagoya
This is India’s first gold medal of the 2026 Games, which run in Aichi-Nagoya until 4 October. They went through the tournament without losing, beating hosts Japan in the quarter-final and Bangladesh in the semi-final, where Shafali made an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls.