The Indian women’s cricket team won their first gold medal in cricket at the Asian Games by defeating Sri Lanka Women in the championship game. This is India’s second gold after the men’s shooting team won gold earlier in the 10m rifle event.
India chose to bat first after winning the toss. Smriti Mandhana (46 off 45 balls) and Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 40 balls), after losing Shafali Verma early on, set the tone for the innings. A significant 73-run partnership for the second wicket was recorded by the two of them. Following Mandhana’s removal, India faltered in the final four overs, scoring only 16 runs to bring the total to a close. In 20 overs, they had 116/7 at the end. Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, and Inoka Ranaweera each took two wickets for the Sri Lankan bowling unit.
Titas Sadhu of India broke the back of the run pursuit after the break with a double-wicket maiden in her first over. Later, she also got rid of Sri Lanka’s skipper Chamari Athapaththu, bringing the score to 15/3 after five overs. With a 36-run stand, Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva attempted to reintroduce Sri Lanka into the match, but they were unable to maintain the necessary pace. After Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/20) broke up this partnership, India was able to win the match with ease. India triumphed by 19 runs after the bowling unit held Sri Lanka to 97/8 in 20 overs thus creating history.