India Strike Gold! Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. Defend Asian Games Cricket Title
India has their first gold medal of the Asian Games 2026, and it has come from the women’s cricket team. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. produced a dominant performance against Sri Lanka in the final on Tuesday, winning by a massive 147 runs to successfully defend the title they won at the 2023 Asian Games.
Xtratime Webdesk: India has their first gold medal of the Asian Games 2026, and it has come from the women’s cricket team. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. produced a dominant performance against Sri Lanka in the final on Tuesday, winning by a massive 147 runs to successfully defend the title they won at the 2023 Asian Games.
Batting first after winning the toss, India put on a commanding 216/3 in 20 overs at Korogi Sports Park. Smriti Mandhana led the charge with a brilliant 79, providing India with the perfect start alongside Shafali Verma. The opening pair added 99 runs before Shafali was dismissed for 48. Mandhana then continued to attack and kept the scoreboard moving at a rapid pace.
Richa Ghosh provided the late fireworks, smashing an unbeaten 49 runs off just 22 deliveries to push India past the 200-run mark. The 216/3 total became the highest score in the history of women’s cricket at the Asian Games, leaving Sri Lanka with a huge target to chase.
Sri Lanka's chase never got going. India’s bowlers kept the pressure on from the beginning and eventually bowled the opposition out for just 69 in 20 overs. The 147-run victory completed a comprehensive all-round performance from the defending champions.
The victory also gives India their second gold medal in Asian Games cricket history. More importantly, it opens India’s medal account in the gold column at the 2026 edition in Aichi-Nagoya. The women's team had entered the tournament as defending champions and lived up to that billing with another title-winning campaign.
For Harmanpreet, Mandhana, Richa and the rest of the squad, the victory adds another major achievement to India’s growing record in women’s cricket and gives the country an early gold-medal moment to celebrate at the Asian Games. This was also India’s second win over Sri Lanka in a short span, following their recent meeting in the Women's Asia Cup 2026 final, making the latest victory another memorable result against the same opposition.
