Dubai: India Women won their eighth Women’s Asia Cup title after defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final in Dubai, completing a dominant campaign with strong batting and bowling performances.
India posted 183/5 after winning the toss and opting to bat first, powered by a record 129-run opening partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 111, with Sree Charani taking 4/20 and Deepti Sharma claiming 3/19.
Chasing 184, Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when Imesha Dulani was bowled by Kranti Gaud in the opening over after starting the innings with a boundary.
Captain Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne attempted to rebuild the innings, with Athapaththu attacking during the powerplay. She hit a six over deep square leg and a boundary off Shafali Verma as Sri Lanka reached 38/1 after six overs.
India’s spin attack then tightened the pressure after the powerplay. Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma controlled the middle overs, with the required run rate continuing to rise.
Athapaththu top-scored for Sri Lanka with 36 off 32 balls before Deepti dismissed her in the 10th over. Deepti then removed Gunaratne in the same over, leaving Sri Lanka at 63/3.
Charani dismissed Harshitha Samarawickrama for 9 in the 14th over before removing Kavisha Dilhari for 7 and Nilakshika Silva for 22 in the 16th over. Sri Lanka were reduced to 102/6 at the end of the over.
𝗖. 𝗛. 𝗔. 𝗠. 𝗣. 𝗜. 𝗢. 𝗡. 𝗦 🏆
A flawless campaign capped by sheer brilliance 🇮🇳🥳
Congratulations to #TeamIndia on winning the #WomensAsiaCup 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/knKLXGSfOd #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/O3KaZ0oA3p
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 13, 2026
Shafali then dismissed Hasini Perera for 1, while Charani completed her four-wicket haul by removing Sugandika Kumari. Prema Rawat dismissed Mithali Ayodhya for a duck before Deepti Sharma removed Kaushani Nuthyangana for 9 to complete Sri Lanka’s innings.
Earlier, India made a strong start through their opening pair. Shafali Verma scored 68 off 39 balls, including nine fours and two sixes, while Smriti Mandhana made 59 off 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes.
All smiles in Dubai 😁
A dominating show by #TeamIndia as they beat Sri Lanka by 7⃣2⃣ runs to clinch their 8⃣th #WomensAsiaCup title 🏆
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/knKLXGSfOd #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/vwLmZZcUUD
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 13, 2026
Shafali reached her half-century from 24 balls, the fastest fifty in Women’s Asia Cup history. She surpassed Mandhana’s previous record of 25 balls, set against Sri Lanka in the 2022 edition.
The 129-run opening stand between Shafali and Mandhana was also the highest partnership for any wicket in Women’s Asia Cup history, surpassing the previous record of 128 between Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma against the UAE in 2022.
The partnership was also the highest in a final of a women’s T20I tournament, overtaking the 120-run stand between West Indies’ Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor against Australia in the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup final.
Shafali’s 68 was her third fifty-plus score of the tournament. She finished as the leading run-scorer in the edition with 236 runs from five innings at an average of 47.20 and a strike rate of 171.01.
My heartiest congratulations to all the members of Team India on winning Women’s T20 Asia Cup Championship 2026. They played superbly as a team throughout the tournament, winning all the matches. They have done the country proud. They are a source of great inspiration for our…
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 14, 2026
Mandhana and Shafali have now recorded six century partnerships in Women’s T20Is, equaling the record held by the UAE pair of Esha Oza and Theertha Satish.
Across 105 innings together, Mandhana and Shafali have scored 3,909 runs at an average of 38.32, including six century stands and 24 fifty-plus partnerships.
After the openers departed, Harmanpreet Kaur scored 14 off 14 balls, and Richa Ghosh made 17 off 13 balls. Bharti Fulmali provided a late boost with an unbeaten 15 off five balls, including a four and a six, as India finished on 183/5.
Mithali Ayodhya and Chamari Athapaththu were Sri Lanka’s leading bowlers, taking 1/33 and 1/34 respectively.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that the team’s title-winning performance reflected the high standards they had set for themselves throughout the tournament.
“We set some really high standards for us, and we had to match them every day, and I’m pretty happy with the way we all came up together,” Kaur added.
Harmanpreet also praised the opening pair, particularly Shafali’s contribution with both bat and ball.
“I think Shafali had a very great tournament, and it’s good to see somebody like Shafali taking responsibility and doing the job with bat and ball,” she stated.
India head coach Amol Muzumdar credited the team’s batting and three-pronged spin attack for the victory. “Our batting was very strong. We started really nicely,” Muzumdar noted.
