Source olympics.com

The Indian women’s cricket team delivered a spectacular performance in Japan on Tuesday, thrashing Sri Lanka by 147 runs to bag India’s first gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games.

Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India successfully defended their title and put on a batting masterclass from start to finish at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.

Smriti Sparks a Run Feast

Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, India came out all guns blazing. Star opener Smriti Mandhana took center stage, smashing a blistering 79 off just 45 balls, loaded with seven towering sixes. Alongside her opening partner Shafali Verma (48 off 29 balls), Mandhana added 99 runs in only 10 overs to set up a massive platform.

During her fiery knock, Mandhana also reached a historic personal milestone, crossing 11,000 runs in international cricket.

Richa Finishes with a Flourish

The fireworks did not stop after the openers departed. Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh took over the reins and tore into the bowling attack, hammering an unbeaten 49 off just 22 deliveries.

Her explosive hitting lifted India to an enormous total of 216/3 in their 20 overs — the highest team score ever recorded in women’s cricket history at the Asian Games.

Spinners Wrap Up Easy Win

Facing a mountain of runs, the Sri Lankan batting line-up collapsed right from the start. India’s bowlers maintained tight control, giving the batters zero breathing room.

Off-spinner Deepti Sharma led the bowling chart with brilliant figures of 3 for 6, while Shafali Verma, Shreyanka Patil, and Shree Charani grabbed two wickets each. Sri Lanka crumbled under pressure and could only muster 69 runs, handing India a record-breaking 147-run victory.

Back-to-Back Champions

This victory marked India’s second straight women’s cricket gold at the Asian Games, having previously won the title at Hangzhou in 2023. With this dominant win, the team opened India’s gold medal account in Aichi-Nagoya in style, giving Indian fans plenty of reason to celebrate.