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Mandhana, Shafali and Ghosh lead dominant India to Asian Games gold
India thrashed Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the Asian Games women’s cricket competition final in Nisshin to win the country’s first gold medal of the multi-sport event, with Smriri Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and the bowling group starring in the dominant display. That made it back-to-back gold medals for India in the event after their triumph in 2023.
Mandhana and Shafali laid the foundation of the win for India with a 99-run opening stand after they opted to bat, with Mandhana finishing on 79 off 45 balls. Ghosh then provided the finishing touches, making 49 not out off 22 balls to power India to 216 for 3, the highest Asian Games innings total.
Sri Lanka couldn’t get anywhere near India’s firepower as they struggled against spin. Chamari Athapaththu fought with a 21-ball 29, but they folded for a paltry 69 – just two runs more than what India managed in their powerplay – to lose another final to India in the space of ten days after going down in the Asia Cup title contest.
The match unfolded similarly to that game in Dubai. Mandhana in particular was at her menacing best, starting off with two boundaries off Sugandika Kumari in the first over and then launching three sixes to different parts of the ground. She first rocked back to Sugandika’s short delivery outside off and cleared mid-on with ease. Sugandika then went fuller and strayed onto the pads, allowing Mandhana to whip it over square leg for another six. And in the next over, she stepped down the track and carved Mithali Ayodhya over cover for her third six of the day.
Shafali then joined in the fun, taking Athapaththu for two sixes, pulling a short ball over deep midwicket before driving a floated delivery over mid-off. Mandhana rounded off the over by flat-batting a back-of-a-length delivery just beyond long-on for another six, much to Athapaththu’s frustration. India were going at over 11 at that point, posting 67 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.
Fours and sixes came frequently with Mandhana continuing to be the more aggressive of the two, bringing up her fifty off 30 balls in the tenth over. Shafali survived a stumping scare in the same over but couldn’t cash in on the chance as she top-edged a shot to Kawya Kavindi at short third off Chamudi Praboda for 48 off 29 balls.
Sri Lanka briefly managed to stem the flow of runs, conceding just one boundary in 19 balls, but that period did not last long. Harmanpreet Kaur and Mandhana started finding the gaps soon, though the India captain’s stay did not last long as she departed for a 17-ball 19.
Ghosh walked out at No. 4 and helped India pick up the pace again, taking on Praboda for two boundaries while Mandhana continued to attack at the other end. Mandhana went on to clobber two more sixes before falling in an attempt to go big, miscuing a length delivery from Sugandika while looking to clear deep-backward square-leg.
With 200 in sight, Ghosh took charge as she helped India plunder 19 runs, including two fours and a six, off Kavindi’s over before launching two more sixes off Ayodhya in the next, pulling a half-tracker over deep midwicket before moving across to club another full delivery over cow corner. Ayodhya also conceded five wides in the over. Ghosh capped the innings with another boundary as India finished on 216.
Sri Lanka were facing a daunting target, but it was not the brightest of starts for India on the field either. After Shreyanka Patil dropped a regulation catch off Imesha Dulani at backward point in the first over, Athapaththu looked in good touch as she scored two boundaries off Nandani Sharma in the second.
Harmanpreet then turned to India’s go-to part-time spin option – Shafali – and she delivered instantly, deceiving Dulani in flight, with Ghosh completing the stumping. She claimed her second wicket in her next over, with a loopy delivery that Hasini Perera sliced to cover point.
Sri Lanka found boundaries against the faster bowlers but could barely keep up with the required run rate, moving to 41 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. India then turned to spin for the rest of the innings, and Sri Lanka’s chase quickly unravelled.
Deepti Sharma ended their slim hopes when she had Athapaththu miscuing to long-off in the seventh over. Patil then had Harshitha Samarawickrama caught and bowled for a duck, before N Shree Charani dismissed Hansima Karunaratne for 1 after another miscued slog.
Deepti then added a second wicket when Kavisha Dilhari spooned a drive back to her, leaving Sri Lanka six down and in deep, deep trouble.
The result all but decided by then, and India continued to strike at regular intervals with Sri Lanka offering no resistance, barring a six and a four from Kaushini Nuthyanganam, whose wicket brought Sri Lanka’s innings to an end in the 16th over. Deepti finished with figures of 3 for 6, while Shafali, Shree Charani and Patil bagged two each.
Scores:
India Women 216 for 3 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 48, Smriti Mandhana 79, Harmanpreet Kur 19, Richa Ghosh 49; SugandikaKumari 1-49, Kavisha Dilhari 1-35, Chamudi Praboda 1-34) beat Sri Lanka 69 in 15.4 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 29, Kavisha Dilhari 11, Kaushini Nuthyangana 14; Deepti Sharma 3-06, Shafali Verma 2-03, Shreyanka Patil 2-9, N Shree Charani 2-13) by 147 runs
[Cricinfo]
Ashen Bandara and Niroshan Dickwella have earned recalls to Sri Lanka’s T20I squad for the Asian Games men’s cricket competition. Bandara last played an international in 2023 while Dickwella’s previous T20I came in 2021.
Sineth Jayawardena, Sohan de Livera, Wnuja Sahan and Garuka Sanketh received maiden T20I call-ups to the 15-member contingent to be captained by Sahan Arachchige.
Lanka opted to leave out most of their first-choice T20I players, and selected Bandara and Dickwella for their experience, even though they had an underwhelming LPL 2026. Bandara played only three matches for Colombo Kaps for 28 runs while Dickwella scored only 110 runs at a strike rate of 142.85 for Dambulla Sixers.
Left-arm spinning-allrounder Sahan picked up nine wickets in ten LPL outings this year at an economy rate of 6.30, including a Player-of-the-Match spell of 2 for 8 in the Eliminator, for Colombo. He also contributed with a 15 ball 34 not out earlier in the tournament. Fast bowler Sanketh impressed with his pace in the LPL though he did not take any wickets in his four outings this year. In the Major ClubsT20 Tournament that followed, he picked up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 8.87 while playing for Moors Sports Club.
Jayawardena and de Livera, both top-order left-hand batters, led the batting charts in the Major Clubs T20 Tournament with the former scoring 372 runs at a strike rate of 167.56 while the latter made 307 at 156.63. Jayawardena, who captained Sri Lanka at the Under-19 World Cup in 2024, smashed a 32-ball 82 to help Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club beat Sinhalese Sports Club in the final.
Legspinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth found a spot after narrowly missing out on the England T20Is, his chart-topping 17 wickets in the domestic tournament only enhancing his credentials. Allrounder Chamika Karunaratne, who struck 253 runs at 157.14 and was a key part of Galle Gallant’s charge to the LPL title, was also brought back.
Ambidextrous spinner Tharindu Ratnayake and legspinner Dushan Hemantha completed the spin options while slinger Nuwan Thushara and left-arm quick Binura Fernando added experience to the pace department.
Sri Lanka have earned a direct qualification to the quarter-final of the Asian Games, and play their first game on September 29 in Nisshin. Arachchige had captained Sri Lanka in the previous edition, too, where they lost to Afghanistan in their only outing and crashed out.
Sri Lanka’s Asian Games squad
Sahan Arachchige (capt), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Lasith Croospulle, Sineth Jayawardena, Nuwanidu Fernando, Sohan de Livera, Ashen Bandara, Chamika Karunaratne, Tharindu Ratnayake, Wanuja Sahan, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Dushan Hemantha, Nuwan Thushara, Binura Fernando, Garuka Sanketh
[Cricinfo]
The ICC will get together in Dubai this week for a workshop in which the next Future Tours Programme (FTP) looms large, with members trying to put a shape to the next international cricket calendar cycle from 2027 to 2031.
Starting on Tuesday, the ICC will conduct a cricket operations workshop, which will feature discussions on the FTP, the current cycle of which ends in March 2027. Though lots of progress has been made in recent months, these meetings will not produce a final and comprehensive FTP yet because, as one official put it, there are still “so many moving parts”. Plenty of each member’s main commitments should be finalised, though, with the final FTP likely to be presented at the ICC quarterly meeting in November, scheduled to be held in Bali.
Increase T20Is, reduce bilateral ODIs
There is likely to be more T20Is between Full Members in the next cycle, and that would come at the cost of bilateral ODIs, as cricket struggles to fit everything it wants into a calendar year. T20Is are the ICC’s growth vehicle to expand the game, and its World Cup is also played every two years, as opposed to the four years for the 50-over version. Rudi van Vuuren, the Namibia Cricket chair and newly inducted ICC Board director, recntly said that he saw more opportunities for Associates in the T20 world.
That, though, doesn’t mean the ODI is dead. The World Cup remains the game’s showpiece event. But there has been talk among members of making ODIs more meaningful – not by bringing back the ODI Super League but by going retro with some 1990s staples like tri-series and quadrilaterals.
Big 3 commitments all but set
While the FTP is far from finalised, Cricinfo understands that Australia, England and India’s main commitments with each other have been set for some time. The Ashes will continue its usual pattern, with series in 2027 (in England), 2029-30 (in Australia) and 2031 (in England), while England will travel to India for a Test series in early 2028 before hosting them in 2029.
The 2027-31 cycle also throws up the challenge of the Los Angeles Olympics in the summer of 2028, where cricket marks its first appearance at the Olympics since 1900. The games will take place in July, midway through the English summer, and the week-long men’s T20 cricket event is expected to clash with England’s home Test series against West Indies.
The challenge for most of the other Full Members, as ever, will be to bake commitments first with India and then with Australia or England into their calendars. South Arica, for instance, are expected to host India immediately after the 2027 ODI World Cup, which they are co-hosting with Zimbabwe and Namibia in October-November.
The PCB, for whom bilateral cricket with India is not an option, have pushed for increased commitments with England and Australia. They have already announced a five-match ODI series against England next summer, although that began as discussions for a one-off Test if Pakistan would have been in the running for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 final. Pakistan also have a three-Test tour of Australia set for 2027-28.
WTC to remain nine teams?
The shape and format of the WTC, currently in its fourth cycle, has been the subject of much discussion over the last year, including talk of a two-tier league which was soon dismissed. In April this year, a presentation by an ICC working committee recommended the inclusion of Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland in addition to the nine teams in the tournament, as well as including one Test series in the league.
Zimbabwe are believed to be keen to be on the WTC, though it isn’t certain whether Afghanistan and Ireland are. As things stand, it still isn’t clear whether the WTC will expand, at least for its next cycle from 2027-29, although we can expect some direction later this week.
New DRS vendors
A session on the second day of the meetings this week will discuss the ICC’s DRS accreditation programme, with the governing body looking to expand the base of review technology suppliers. At the moment, Hawk-Eye and Virtual Eye are the ICC’s approved suppliers for DRS technology in all international cricket.
[Cricinfo]
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to appoint Ms. P. M. Jayadeera (Engineer) in the Special Grade of Sri Lanka Engineering Service serving at present as the Additional Secretary (Water Resources Development) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to the post of Director General which will be vacant from 06.10.2026.
Niroshan Dickwella in Sri Lanka’s T20I squad for the first time since 2021
ICC’s agenda for 2027-31: more T20Is, fewer bilateral ODIs
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