India women retained their Asian Games cricket gold medal after defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final at Nisshin on September 22. The champions first posted 216 for three in 20 overs before bowling Sri Lanka out for 69 in 15.4 overs. The victory gave India another Asian Games title after their gold-medal triumph at the previous edition. India’s total was built around an explosive start from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, who put on 99 runs for the opening wicket. Mandhana eventually top-scored with 79 from 45 balls, hitting five fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 175.55. Their total set the platform for a controlled defence in the gold-medal match itself. Mandhana and Ghosh drive India to 216 Mandhana’s innings came after a brisk contribution from Shafali, who scored 48 off 29 deliveries, including three fours and three sixes. Harmanpreet Kaur added 19 from 17 balls before being dismissed in the 15th over. Richa Ghosh then provided the biggest acceleration of the finish, finishing unbeaten on 49 from only 22 balls. Her innings contained six fours and three sixes and came at a strike rate of 222.72. Bharti Fulmali remained not out on seven as India reached 216/3 at a run rate of 10.80. Sri Lanka’s bowlers took three wickets, with Sugandika Kumari, Kavisha Dilhari and Chamudi Praboda claiming one each, but India maintained a rate that left a target. There were 14 extras. Deepti leads bowling attack as Sri Lanka collapse Sri Lanka’s chase never gathered momentum as India’s bowlers struck regularly from the second over. Chamari Athapaththu made 29 from 21 balls, but Sri Lanka slipped from 18 for one to 30 for two and then 43 for three. Deepti Sharma led India’s bowling figures with three wickets for six runs in four overs, including a maiden. Shafali Verma returned 2/3 from two overs, while Shreyanka Patil and Shree Charani collected two wickets apiece. Kaushini Nuthyangana’s 14 was the next-highest score for Sri Lanka, while Kavisha Dilhari made 11. The last wicket fell at 69 in the 16th over. India’s batting and bowling secured the gold-medal result. The result confirmed India’s dominance in the final in Nisshin.