India Face Sri Lanka in Asian Games Cricket Final Rematch of Hangzhou Gold

A HANGZHOU REMATCH

India's women's cricket team faces Sri Lanka on Tuesday in the gold medal final of the Asian Games 2026 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, a repeat of the final at Hangzhou 2023 where India took gold. The defending champions reached the final by beating hosts Japan by eight wickets in the quarterfinals before overwhelming Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semifinal. Sri Lanka were similarly dominant, beating Malaysia by 86 runs in the quarters before outclassing Pakistan by eight wickets in the semis.

The run of results means the women's cricket medal matches at these Games are identical to Hangzhou's, right down to Pakistan and Bangladesh meeting for bronze.

A FAMILIAR RIVALRY, RECENTLY RENEWED

This is the second time this month India and Sri Lanka have met for a major continental title. They faced off in the Asia Cup final in Dubai less than 10 days earlier, where fifties from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma carried India, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, to a comfortable 72-run win.

Verma enters the final in scorching form. After back-to-back fifties in the Asia Cup semifinal and final, the 22-year-old opener struck an unbeaten 40 against Japan and followed it with an unbeaten century against Bangladesh in the semifinal. Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma have also picked up wickets regularly through the tournament for India.

Sri Lanka's hopes rest heavily on captain Chamari Athapaththu, the tournament's leading run-scorer with 146 runs across two games, who is also her side's leading wicket-taker with three scalps.

THE HEAD-TO-HEAD

India hold a commanding edge in the fixture, having won 25 of the 31 T20Is played between the two sides, with Sri Lanka claiming five and one match ending without a result. India arrive on a seven-match winning streak against Sri Lanka, with their last defeat to the Lankans dating back to 2024.

WHY IT MATTERS

A win would give India back-to-back Asian Games women's cricket golds and cement their status as the dominant side in the region, while a Sri Lankan upset would be their first major title over India in years and a signature result for Athapaththu's team heading into the next cycle of continental cricket.