Cricket stadium (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
India Women are looking to defend their Asian Games cricket gold medal against Sri Lanka on September 22.
India won their first gold in the sport at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, also beating Sri Lanka in that final.
The team is led by Harmanpreet Kaur, with Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh in the squad.
India reached this final on the strength of Shafali Verma’s century in the semifinal.
The match is being played at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.
Verma’s century was her first hundred in Women’s T20 Internationals.
Sri Lanka reached the final by beating Pakistan by eight wickets in their semifinal, with captain Chamari Athapaththu playing a key role.
India are the defending champions, having beaten Sri Lanka to win their first Asian Games cricket gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
India’s squad is led by Harmanpreet Kaur and includes Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh.
The winner of the match takes the gold medal, with the loser settling for silver.
India’s route to the final included an eight-wicket win over Japan in the quarterfinal, where they chased 58 in five overs.
The Asian Games 2026 are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
India has already won medals in other sports at these Games, including silvers in shooting and a bronze in mixed martial arts.
Weather was flagged as a possible factor for the final, given the wider spell of rain and thunderstorms forecast across parts of India and the region this week.
The match is being shown on the Sony Sports Network and streamed on SonyLIV.
A win for India would make it back-to-back Asian Games gold medals in women’s cricket.
A win for Sri Lanka would be their first Asian Games gold in the sport.
The final follows a group and knockout format used across the Asian Games cricket competition.
Cricket stadium (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
