Mandhana's 79 and Richa Ghosh's unbeaten 49 lift India to 216 in the Asian Games final

India set Sri Lanka 217 to win Asian Games gold after Smriti Mandhana's 79 and an unbeaten 49 from Richa Ghosh carried them to 216 for 3 at Korogi Sports Park

Harmanpreet Kaur chose to bat on winning the toss in the gold-medal match at Nisshin, and India's openers had settled the shape of the innings inside six overs. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on 99 for the first wicket before Shafali was caught for 48.

Mandhana went on to 79 from 45 balls with five fours and seven sixes, two days after she passed Suzie Bates as the leading run-scorer in women's T20 internationals.

India took 34 from the last two overs, Richa Ghosh finishing unbeaten on 49 from 22 balls to lift the defending champions to 216 for 3.

India's openers set the tone

India were 67 for 0 at the end of the powerplay, having taken the aggression to Sri Lanka's opening bowlers from the first over.

Shafali hit consecutive sixes off Chamari Athapaththu in the fifth over, and Mandhana had already struck two of her own in the third.

The opening stand was worth 99 in a shade under ten overs when Shafali was caught for 48, a rate Sri Lanka never pegged back.

It was the second time in three days India had passed 190 at the tournament, after the 195 for 4 they made against Bangladesh in the semi-final.

Mandhana adds to a record week

Boundaries accounted for 62 of Mandhana's 79 runs before she was caught by Kavisha Dilhari off Sugandika Kumari, with India on 163 for 3 in the 17th over.

Kumari was the pick of the Sri Lankan attack, finishing with 1-37 from her four overs. Kawya Kavindi went wicketless for 36.

Mandhana had moved past Bates's tally of 4758 T20I runs two days earlier, during India's semi-final win over Bangladesh.

Richa Ghosh closes the innings

Harmanpreet made 19 from 17 before falling with India on 141 in the 15th over, a dismissal that brought Ghosh in with more than five overs left.

India were 182 for 3 after 18 overs, and Ghosh and Bharti Fulmali took 34 from the last 12 balls.

Ghosh finished on 49 from 22 deliveries with five fours and three sixes, one short of a fifty the innings ran out of balls to give her.

Shafali's 48 came two days after her unbeaten 100 from 49 balls against Bangladesh, the first T20I hundred of her career.

Sri Lanka's route to the gold-medal match

Athapaththu's side reached the final unbeaten, beating Malaysia by 86 runs in the quarter-final after posting 160 for 4.

They then chased down Pakistan's 177 for 4 in the semi-final, reaching 178 for 2 with 2.1 overs to spare. Athapaththu made 83 not out from 50 balls and Hasini Perera 42 from 26.

That chase equalled Sri Lanka's highest total in a successful pursuit, which is the measure of what they now face.

A target beyond anything Sri Lanka have chased

India have won both of the sides' recent finals. At Hangzhou in 2023 they defended 116 for 7 to take the first Asian Games women's cricket gold, Titas Sadhu returning 3-6 as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 97.

Nine days ago in Dubai, India made 183 for 5 and dismissed Sri Lanka for 111 to win the Women's Asia Cup final by 72 runs, Shafali and Mandhana opening with a stand of 129.

Both sides have come through the tournament unbeaten, and gold is the last medal to be settled after Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 31 runs for bronze earlier in the day.

Sri Lanka now need 217, some 39 more than they have ever made to win a T20 international batting second.

Scorecard: India Women 216-3 (20 overs) v Sri Lanka Women, Asian Games final, Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin

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