&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Shree Charani stars with 4/20 as India beat Sri Lanka to win Women’s Asia Cup 2026")
The Indian women’s team has regained the title of Asia Cup winners after beating the defending champions Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday (Sep 13) in Dubai by 72 runs. Fifties from attacking Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma and a brilliant four-wicket haul from Shree Charani ensured that India crossed the finish line this time. The Indian women’s team is now a record eight-time Asia Cup champions (four in the T20 format and four in the ODIs). After scoring 183 for five in the first innings, India reduced Sri Lanka to 111 in reply.
India won the toss and elected to bat first in the all-important final. Star openers Shafali and Smriti began with the onslaught and didn’t look like stopping. After dominating the Powerplay, the two paced their innings even after that, completing respective fifties. Shafali was the aggressor of the two, hitting boundaries for fun. Showing maturity and mettle, as her captain suggested, Shafali smashed 68 off 39 balls before losing her wicket. The two added 129 runs for the first wicket.
"I think Shafali had a great tournament and it's good to see somebody like Shefali who is taking the responsibility and doing the job with bat and ball," Harmanpreet said after the match. "I can't ask anything else from her. It's all about playing good cricket and I am very happy about that. We set some really high standards for us and we had to match them every day."
Mandhana departed in the next over before Harmanpreet, Richa and Deepti too fell quickly. A late blitz from Gunalan Kamalini ensured India posted a challenging total (183/5).
India crowned champions
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India never let Sri Lanka settle in the run chase, and Kranti Gaud’s first-over dismissal set the tone for India. Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne added a valiant 58-run stand for the second wicket, only for Deepti Sharma to use her experience and get rid of the Sri Lankan captain stumped on 36.
Her dismissal triggered a batting collapse, with left-arm spinner and India’s most successful bowler this year, Shree Charani tore through the middle and the lower order with her four wickets. Deepti too returned with three wickets as India wrapped up Sri Lanka for 111 to seal a famous win in Dubai.
The award-ceremony, however, caught eyeballs for all wrong reasons, as the Indian Team refused to accept the trophy from the ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who also happened to be the PCB chairman and an interior minister in Pakistan government. Only Sri Lankan team accepted their medals and the trophy was not presented to the winning team.
