India Wins First Gold in Asian Games 2026 via Women’s Cricket Triumph
India won its first gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games after the women’s cricket team defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, on Tuesday. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India produced a strong all-round performance to successfully defend the women’s cricket gold medal they won at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.
India won the toss and decided to bat first. The decision worked well as the Indian batters put up a huge total of 216 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs.
Smriti Mandhana was the leading scorer for India, making an impressive 79 runs from 45 balls. She hit five fours and seven sixes during her innings and played a major role in giving India a strong start. Mandhana and Shafali Verma added 99 runs for the opening wicket. Shafali scored 48 runs from 29 balls before she was dismissed.
Richa Ghosh then provided a powerful finish to India’s innings. She remained unbeaten on 49 from just 22 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes. Harmanpreet Kaur also contributed 19 runs as India reached 216/3, giving Sri Lanka a difficult target of 217.
Sri Lanka struggled badly during the chase. The team reached 41/2 during the powerplay, but India continued to take wickets at regular intervals. Captain Chamari Athapaththu offered some resistance with 29 runs from 21 balls, but the rest of the batting line-up could not build a partnership.
India’s bowlers then completed the job. Deepti Sharma was the leading wicket-taker with three wickets for just six runs. Shafali Verma, Shree Charani and Shreyanka Patil took two wickets each. Sri Lanka were eventually bowled out for only 69 runs in 15.4 overs.
India therefore won the final by 147 runs and secured the gold medal. The victory also confirmed India’s second consecutive Asian Games women’s cricket title, following their gold-medal success at the Hangzhou Games held in 2023.
The gold medal was India’s first at the 2026 Asian Games and took the country’s medal tally to seven at the time, including one gold, four silver and two bronze medals.
The victory adds another major achievement to the Indian women’s cricket team’s recent run of success and gives India a strong start to its gold-medal campaign at the 2026 Asian Games.