Women’s cricket team delivers India’s first gold medal of the Asian Games
India’s continental dominance in women’s cricket remained unchallenged as the side walked away with the country’s first gold of the ongoing Asian Games on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Co hammered Sri Lanka by 147 runs to be crowned Games champions for the second successive edition, the triumph also taking India’s medal count to seven, adding a much-awaited gold to the tally.
Defending champions India posted a record 216 for three after opting to bat, with Smriti Mandhana smashing 79 off 45 balls and Richa Ghosh providing a late flourish with an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls.
Mandhana and Shafali Verma (48 off 29) put on 99 off 60 balls to give India a flying start, with the former hitting seven sixes.
Ghosh then hammered three sixes and seven fours as India crossed 200.
Sri Lanka never came close to challenging the imposing target, being bowled out for 69 in 15.4 overs.
Shafali completed an all-round effort with two wickets, while Deepti Sharma claimed three for six and Shree Charani took two wickets.
“Before the tournament, we talked about staying unbeaten… Playing to the high standards we set for ourselves. It’s so satisfying to see everyone approach every game with such a positive mindset,” skipper Harmanpreet said.
“Overall, the balance between experience and fresh talent was spot on, and everyone delivered when it mattered,” she added.
Pakistan won bronze after beating Bangladesh by 31 runs.
