India women retain Asian Games cricket gold, men set up final against Pakistan

India's women's cricket team defended their Asian Games title in Japan, beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final at Nisshin, Aichi, on 22 September 2026. It was India's second consecutive gold in the event, after winning at Hangzhou in 2023.

The final

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat, and India's batters made the most of it.

• Smriti Mandhana top-scored with 79 off 45 balls
• Richa Ghosh hit 49 off 22 balls
• Shafali Verma made 48 off 29 balls

India's 216 for 3 was the highest women's total in Asian Games history. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu made 29, but no one else could stay with her and Sri Lanka collected silver.

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Men's team in the gold medal match

The men's side, led by Shreyas Iyer, reached the final by beating Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the semi-final. Ishan Kishan made an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls in India's 169 for 7, and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 45, with Jasprit Bumrah striking twice in the first over.

Pakistan beat Bangladesh in a rain-shortened semi-final, setting up an India vs Pakistan gold medal match on 3 October 2026 at 10:00 am IST. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will play for bronze earlier the same day.

The bigger picture

Cricket is back at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, which run until 4 October. A second women's gold shows how far India's T20 side has come, and the men now have a chance to complete a cricket double.