India’s Record 216 Rewrites the Asian Games Gold Final

India posted 216 for 3 against Sri Lanka in the Asian Games women’s cricket gold-medal match on Tuesday, the highest total in the event’s history. The defending champions hit 13 sixes at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin and left Sri Lanka 217 to get.

Three years after the same two sides met for gold in Hangzhou, the scoreboard has moved 100 runs. Smriti Mandhana made 79 off 45 and became the first woman to 11,000 international runs in the same innings. Sri Lanka were 22 for 1 after three overs of the chase.

A Record 216 for 3 at Korogi Sports Park

Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and batted. Shafali Verma and Mandhana put on 99 off 60 balls before Shafali fell for 48 off 29, caught by Kawya Kavindi off Chamudi Praboda in the tenth over. The captain made 19 off 17 and was caught in the deep by Chamari Athapaththu off Kavisha Dilhari, leaving India 142 for 2 after 15.

Richa Ghosh walked in at No. 4. Mandhana kept striking until Sugandika Kumari had her slog-swept to Kavisha Dilhari at 163 for 3 in the 17th. Bharti Fulmali joined Ghosh, and the pair added 53 off 19 balls. India closed at 10.80 an over. The last five cost Sri Lanka 74 for 1.

INDIA’S INNINGS, BATTER BY BATTER

The 13 sixes came from Mandhana (7), Shafali (3) and Ghosh (3). That is India’s most in a T20 innings, one above the 12 they hit against Bangladesh in Sunday’s semi-final. Praboda (4-0-34-1), Dilhari (4-0-35-1) and Kumari (4-0-37-1) took the wickets. Mithali Ayodhya went for 42 off three, Kavindi 40 off three, Athapaththu 27 off two.

The Hangzhou Final Was 100 Runs Smaller

On 25 September 2023, India made 116 for 7 against Sri Lanka in the Hangzhou gold-medal match and won by 19 runs. Mandhana scored 46 that day. Sri Lanka were 97 for 8. Titas Sadhu took 3 for 6. Same opponents, same toss call, same medal. The Nisshin innings is 100 runs bigger.

Cricket is in a fourth Asian Games, after Guangzhou, Incheon and Hangzhou, and the women’s event in Aichi-Nagoya is a straight knockout among eight teams. India are defending the title they won on their first appearance. Sri Lanka took bronze in 2014 and silver in Hangzhou and are still chasing a first gold. The sides also met in this month’s Women’s Asia Cup final, which India won.

TWO GOLD-MEDAL INNINGS, SAME OPPONENT

The path here was shorter than the scoreline. India knocked over Japan bowled out for 57 in the quarters and chased 58 in five overs, Shafali 40 not out, Shree Charani 4 for 10. Sunday’s 114-run semi-final win over Bangladesh was built on Shafali’s unbeaten 100 off 49, with nine sixes, and a total of 195 for 4. Bangladesh were 81 all out, Deepti Sharma 3 for 7, Nandani Sharma 3 for 25.

Mandhana Reaches 11,000 in the Same Innings

Mandhana walked out 13 runs short of 11,000 in international cricket. She had 10,987, split 788 in Tests, 5,411 in one-day internationals and 4,788 in T20s. Two fours in Sugandika Kumari’s first over, then a six in the third, and she was there inside 10 balls. BCCI Women posted the landmark while she was still batting.

𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗘 1️⃣1️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗦 🌟

Smriti Mandhana with another magnificent milestone to her name 🫡

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/x367kJHmrc#TeamIndia | #AsianGames pic.twitter.com/QJ3B4hYXYh

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 22, 2026

The 79 off 45, with five fours and seven sixes, was her 37th T20 fifty, brought up in 30 balls. In Sunday’s semi-final she had already gone past Suzie Bates to become the leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is. The gold-medal innings did the next thing on the list without pausing the strike rate.

Shafali’s 48 off 29 kept the other end loud. BCCI Women, after the 99-run stand, put it simply.

They truly enjoy batting together

BCCI Women, official update

Gunalan Kamalini, listed at No. 3, did not bat. Harmanpreet and Ghosh were sent ahead. Mandhana’s dismissal in the 17th was Sri Lanka’s biggest moment of the innings, and it did not slow the death overs.

The Last Three Overs Finish the Record

India were 163 for 3 when Mandhana left. Ghosh had already cut Praboda for back-to-back fours. What followed was the piece that pushed a strong total into the Asian Games record.

THE LAST THREE OVERS

• 18th, Kavindi: Nineteen runs, including a Ghosh six over midwicket, three wides, India 182 for 3.
• 19th, Kumari: Nine runs, Fulmali drilling a four down the ground, India 191 for 3.
• 20th, Ayodhya: Twenty-five runs, two Ghosh sixes, a four, a five-wide, a bye, India 216 for 3.

Ghosh finished 49 not out off 22 at a strike rate of 222.72. She was 17 off eight from Ayodhya alone. Fulmali’s 7 off 7 was the quiet half of a 53-run stand that lasted 19 balls. India had 67 for 0 in the powerplay, 90 for 2 in the middle, and 59 for 1 at the death. Ayodhya’s three overs went for 42. The last over of a gold-medal match went for 25, one of them a bye.

217 Is 39 Above Sri Lanka’s Record Chase

Sri Lanka chased 178 for 2 in 17.5 overs against Pakistan on Sunday, Athapaththu 83 not out off 50, Hasini Perera 42 off 26. That chase equalled their highest successful T20 pursuit. 217 is 39 runs above it. Athapaththu has to do the heavy share again, on a ground where India just cleared the rope 13 times.

Pakistan took bronze earlier on Tuesday, 145 for 8 beating Bangladesh 114 for 7 by 31 runs, Fatima Sana 45. The gold-medal match is the only game left in the women’s tournament, which ran 17 to 22 September.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The target: Sri Lanka need 217, after India 216 for 3 in 20 overs.
• The start: 22 for 1 after three overs, Imesha Dulani stumped Ghosh off Shafali for 3 off 10.
• The new batter: Hasini Perera came in with a four, Athapaththu still there.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• The gold: Neither medal is decided until the chase ends.
• Athapaththu’s share: She has the record chase behind her and 195 still to get with nine wickets in hand after three.

India’s attack is the same group that bowled Bangladesh out for 81: Kranti Gaud, Nandani Sharma, Charani, Deepti, Shreyanka Patil. They have 217 to play with. They also already missed one chance.

India’s New-Ball Pair Already Has a Missed Chance

Gaud took the new ball. Athapaththu got off the mark with two, then a single. Dulani defended, then offered a catch off Gaud that Patil put down. Three runs came off the first over. Nandani Sharma went for 13 in the second, Athapaththu twice finding the rope. Shafali came on for the third and Ghosh completed the stumping. Hasini’s four made it 22 for 1 after three.

A missed sitter in the first over of a 217 chase is a small thing next to 13 sixes, and it is also the first task the bowlers failed. Hangzhou’s gold was won with the ball after 116. Nisshin’s gold, if it comes, will be won by defending a total that belongs on a different scoreboard from cricket’s previous Asian Games champions.

Sri Lanka were 22 for 1 after three overs, 195 still needed, Athapaththu at the crease.