The Indian national anthem was played at Aichi-Nagoya for the first time on Day Three of the Asian Games on Tuesday at the Korogi Athletics Park.
India’s spin choke-hold, a blistering opening partnership and a cracking innings in the middle ensured the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side retained the title with a 147-run victory against Sri Lanka in the final and earned India its first gold at the 2026 Games.
Chasing a massive 217-run target at the Korogi Athletics Park, Sri Lanka folded for 69 in 15.4 overs, stumbling early on and never finding their footing as India’s bowling, led by Deepti Sharma (three for six), didn’t allow any breathing space to the Sri Lankan batters on a small ground against a team that has dominated their battles for a while now.
The damage with the ball was initiated, as with the bat, by Shafali Verma, who sent back Imesha Dulani and Hasini Perera in consecutive overs to reduce Sri Lanka to 30 for two inside the first five overs.
She didn’t come on again to bowl, but the collapse had begun, and when Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu was caught by Bharti Fulmali at long off poking at a wide-ish delivery from Deepti, with the scoreboard reading 43 for three, it was all but over.
Chamari was the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with 29, one of only three batters to reach double digits in a line-up that had four ducks. Shreyanka Patil and Shree Charani got two wickets each, and Mithali Ayodhya’s run-out completed the nightmare on the field for Sri Lanka, who go back with yet another silver from the Asian Games after Hangzhou 2023.
Earlier, having elected to bat, the Indians continued in the same vein as the Asia Cup final nine days ago, with Shafali and Smriti Mandhana in imperious form. The two added 99 runs in the first 10 overs, scoring at over 150 strike rate each.
Shafali, trying to hit a reverse sweep, failed to clear the infield, missing out on a half-century by two. Richa Ghosh’s 22-ball 49 was the icing on the cake, propelling the score beyond 200 after Harmanpreet fell cheaply. At the other end, Smriti continued to do her thing, a sublime but equally destructive 79 in 45 balls being the foundation of India’s 216 for three.
In the morning, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana’s match-winning 45 and Umm-e-Hani’s three wickets helped the team finish third with a 31-run victory against Bangladesh in the bronze medal play-off.
The scores (final):
India 216 for three in 20 overs (Smriti 79, Richa 49 n.o.) bt Sri Lanka 69 all out in 15.4 overs (Chamari 29; Deepti 3/6, Shafali 2/3) by 147 runs.