India Clinch Asian Games Women’s Cricket Gold With Emphatic 147-Run Win Over Sri Lanka

India handed Sri Lanka a crushing 147-run defeat to win the women's T20 cricket gold medal at the Asian Games on Tuesday.

Led by Smirti Mandhana’s 79 and equally splendid contributions from Shifali Verma (48) and Richa Gosh (49), India posted its third-highest T20 score of 216-3 winning the toss and electing to bat.

Sri Lanka, which chased down its biggest-ever T20 score of 177 to beat Pakistan in the semifinals, succumbed to Indian spinners and was bowled out for 69 in 15.4 overs. Captain Chamari Athapaththu was the top scorer with 29 off 21 balls.

In a repeat of the 2023 final won by India, Sri Lanka crashed against Deepti Sharma, who bagged three wickets for just six runs off her four overs. Verma (2-3), Shree Charni (2-13) and Shreyanka Patil (2-9) also shared six wickets between them.

Athapaththu’s dismissal in the seventh over saw Sri Lanka lose its last eight wickets for just 26 runs.

Earlier, left-handed Mandhana and Verma set the tone of a mammoth total with their 99-run opening-wicket stand in 10 overs as Sri Lankan bowlers gave away too many boundary balls.

Verma smashed three sixes and three fours before she was caught at short third while attempting a reverse hit. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s struggle continued in the tournament with another unimpressive knock of 19 off 17 balls, but Gosh and Mandhana ensured India set up a stiff target.

Mandhana smashed seven sixes and five fours in 45 balls before she holed out in the outfield in the 17th over, before Gosh’s onslaught, which featured three sixes and six fours, provided a perfect finish.

Gosh smashed fast bowler Mithali Ayodhya for two sixes and a boundary in the final over which cost Sri Lanka 25 runs. Earlier, Pakistan clinched the bronze medal by beating Bangladesh by 31 runs. Captain Fatema Sana made 45 in Pakistan’s score of 145-8 and spinner Umm-e-Hani grabbed 3-10 as Bangladesh was restricted to 114-7.