India Women look to bag back-to-back gold medals when they take on Sri Lanka Women in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games cricket final at Nisshin’s Karogi Athletic Park on Tuesday. Both teams registered terrific wins in their semifinals. Riding Shafali Verma’s maiden T20I century (100* off 49 balls), India (195/4) dismissed Bangladesh by 114 runs on Sunday. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, chased down 178 against Pakistan with 13 balls to spare in the first semi-final. In the 2023 edition at Hangzhou in China, India had beaten Sri Lanka in a low-scorer. Chasing 117 to win, the Lankans made 97/8 in 20 overs.
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Anyway, on Tuesday, another high-scoring contest is in the offing since the venue has been partial to batters from day one. The big teams, especially, have enjoyed the surface. India go into the match as red-hot favourites. They have the strongest team in the Games, but then they will have to be wary of their opposition. As far as head-to-head is concerned, India have won 26 out of 32 T20I encounters, with five of them going Sri Lanka’s way. One was a no-result.
Sri Lanka last beat India in 2024 in the Asia Cup final when they comfortably chased down 166 to stun Harmanpreet Kaur’s bunch. Star performers that day, captain Chamari Athapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari are again to be wary of tomorrow. Against Pakistan in the semifinal on Sunday, Athapaththu led from the front with an 83 not out off just 50 balls.
Smriti Mandhana, captain Harmanpreet and Shafali have been the main batters for India in the last few weeks, including the Asia Cup, and that’s a bit of a worry. The trio is bound to have a bad day. If that happens, who comes to the rescue? Gunalan Kamalini and Bharti Fulmali haven’t exactly looked great so far. In light of the fact that it’s going to be a batting paradise, India need their main batters to fire again. Basically, they have to do what they did earlier this month in the Asia Cup final at Dubai. Mandhana and Shafali scored fifties to help India to 183/5, and Sri Lanka could only go as far as 111 all out. If India bat first, that is.
Spinners crucial too!
{{/usCountry}}Smriti Mandhana, captain Harmanpreet and Shafali have been the main batters for India in the last few weeks, including the Asia Cup, and that’s a bit of a worry. The trio is bound to have a bad day. If that happens, who comes to the rescue? Gunalan Kamalini and Bharti Fulmali haven’t exactly looked great so far. In light of the fact that it’s going to be a batting paradise, India need their main batters to fire again. Basically, they have to do what they did earlier this month in the Asia Cup final at Dubai. Mandhana and Shafali scored fifties to help India to 183/5, and Sri Lanka could only go as far as 111 all out. If India bat first, that is.
Spinners crucial too!
{{/usCountry}}However, if they are bowling first, then they will have to bank on their spinners Shree Charani (six wickets in two games, including a 4/10 against Japan in the quarter-final) and Deepti Sharma (4 wickets in two games). They are India’s biggest bets. Although pacers Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma have done well, the responsibility predominantly lies with the spin duo to restrict Sri Lanka. Deepti is the only bowler in the Indian ranks from the last Asian Games final, so she becomes more important than others in light of her experience.
Once again… India are the red-hot favourites, but they will have to be a bit careful. It’s through their batting that they are most likely to win, and although there are no real reasons to be worried, one can have a bad day. India will hope that at least tomorrow they don’t.
Squads:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, G Kamalini, Bharti Fulmali, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Nandani Sharma
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Imesha Dulani, Sanjana Kavindi, Hansima Karunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Anushka Sanjeewani, Kaveesha Dilhari, Hasini Perera, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Nimasha Meepage, Sugandika Kumari, Rashmika Sewwandi, Chamudi Praboda, Mithali Ayodhya, Kawya Kavindi