Mandhana Leads India to First Gold at Nagoya Games

India won their first gold medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the women’s T20 cricket final. India posted a commanding 216-3 before bowling Sri Lanka out for just 69 in under 16 overs, successfully retaining their Asian Games title.

Smriti Mandhana starred with 79 off 45 balls, while Shafali Verma added 48 as the pair put together a 99-run opening partnership. Mandhana also became the first woman batter to reach 11,000 international runs. Richa Ghosh provided a late surge with an unbeaten 49 from 22 deliveries.

Sri Lanka struggled to build momentum in their chase, with Verma taking two wickets in consecutive overs and Deepti Sharma dismissing captain Chamari Athapaththu for 27. Pakistan claimed the bronze medal after beating Bangladesh by 31 runs.

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