India lifted the Women's Asia Cup trophy for a record-extending eighth time by defeating Sri Lanka in the 2026 Asia Cup final here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium by 72 runs on Sunday.
The Women in Blue starred across all departments to avenge their 2024 final loss to Sri Lanka, as they kept bossing the Lankan side in the Asia Cup finals. This was India's sixth win against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finals, including the ODI format and the 2004 tournament when India beat Sri Lanka 5-0 in the two-team tournament.
India posted a strong total of 183/5, with Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana setting things up with a record 129-run stand for the opening wicket and scoring strong half-centuries. The Indian bowlers backed things pretty well as Shree Charani picked up four wickets, while Deepti Sharma also scalped two wickets to take the Women in Blue home.
Shafali and Mandhana laid the foundation for the win with their 129-run stand. Shafali smashed 68 from 39 balls and also hit the fastest half-century in the history of the tournament, when she raised her bat for the milestone off just 24 deliveries. Mandhana made a composed 59 from 39 balls, but Sri Lanka made a strong comeback in the latter half of the innings.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur struggled at No.3, falling for 14 before Richa Ghosh was also removed for 17, while G Kamalini, playing her first match of the tournament, made a five-ball 15 to give the Women in Blue a strong finish.
Sri Lanka were found wanting in their top-order performances, and it was not a big improvement over their previous outings, as Imesha Dulani was dismissed in the first over by Kranti Gaud.
India kept the lid on Sri Lanka batters as captain Chamari Athapaththu was not being let free to score. They were kept at 38/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Athapaththu showed her muscles when she saw leg-spinner Prema Rawat coming in for her first over in the ninth over. She hit her for a six and four as Sri Lanka dreamt with their captain around.
However, Deepti hit the body blow when she got Athapaththu stumped out in the 10th over and then doubled the blow when she bowled Vishmi Gunaratne in the same over.
The two wickets meant Sri Lanka were already staring down the barrel by the end of the 10th over. With 121 needed off 60 balls, India did not let the 2024 champions breathe easy as Shree Charani got Harshitha Samarawickrama for nine to become India's leading T20I wicket-taker of the year.
She continued her good work and took three more wickets, with two coming in the 15th over as she removed Kavisha Dilhari and Nilakshika Silva in the space of three balls.
Shafali also took a wicket, while Prema Rawat scalped one too before Deepti closed things out on the final ball of the match after cleaning up Kaushani Nuthyangana to bowl the 2024 winners for 111 and win by 72 runs.
Brief Scores: India 183/5 (Shafali Verma 68, Smriti Mandhana 59; Mithali Ayodhya 1-33) beat Sri Lanka 111/10 (Chamari Athapaththu 36, Nilakshika Silva 22; Shree Charani 4-20, Deepti Sharma 3-19) by 72 runs.
'We have certain standards and we played to it': Harmanpreet
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur heaped praise on her team after winning the eighth Women's Asia Cup title by beating Sri Lanka in the 2026 final by 72 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Kaur called her team a great one and emphasised that they played to their standards to lift the continental showpiece yet again. "We feel this way because we know how much potential we have, and we have a great team.
"I think we played to our standards because that's what we discussed when we came here: we have certain standards, and we have to, you know, keep matching them every day. And we are very happy with the way we all performed. And I think the girls have done fabulously well throughout the entire tournament, setting 184 in a final," Kaur said after the win.
She heaped praise on the openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, who put up a record 129-run partnership for the opening wicket and laid the platform to take the Women in Blue to 183/5 in 20 overs. The 129-run stand is now the highest in the Women's T20 Asia Cup for any wicket.
"Yes, definitely. We all knew it's not that easy to come back, but I think our openers did an absolutely great job for us, the way they both batted, Smriti and Shafali.
"I think Shafali had a very, you know, great tournament, and it's good to see somebody like Shafali taking responsibility and doing the job with bat and ball. And I mean, I can't ask anything else from them. It's all about, you know, playing good cricket, and at the end of the day, I'm very happy overall," she said.
She also thanked the crowd for their constant support for the Women in Blue wherever they go. "I think I've been saying that they are our biggest support. Wherever we go, they're always there to support us, and I think in front of them we always want to play great cricket and hope we are able to, you know, entertain them with our great performance.
"And I'm sure today, it's good to see a lot of smiles, a lot of, you know, people enjoying their performance, and hopefully we'll keep continuing that," she said.
Shafali smashed 68 from 39 balls and also hit the fastest half-century in the history of the tournament, when she raised her bat for the milestone off just 24 deliveries. The Indian bowlers backed things pretty well as Shree Charani picked up four wickets, while Deepti Sharma also scalped three wickets to take the Women in Blue home.
'Fantastic effort, finished off strong'
India women's head coach Amol Muzumdar hailed the Indian team and the support staff after India won the eighth Asia Cup title by defeating Sri Lanka in the 2026 final on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
India starred in both the batting and bowling departments to avenge their 2024 loss to Sri Lanka and took a 6-1 lead over their southern neighbours in the Asia Cup final record.
Speaking following the 72-run win after India bowled Sri Lanka out for 111, Muzumdar reflected on the campaign and heaped praise on the entire contingent. "Fantastic effort. They showed up from the first game and, fittingly, finished it off strong. Really proud of all the players and all the support staff as well," Muzumdar told broadcasters after the win.
He emphasised that the batters laid the platform with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma putting up 129 for the opening wicket to take India to 183/5. "It was a fantastic pitch today, and we came up well. I think our batting was really strong. We started off really nicely, and that's what we spoke about in the meetings, and the girls went on to execute things really nicely," he added.
The Dubai pitches have been a bit on the slower side, with run-scoring not that easy. India won the toss for the first time this tournament and opted to bat first on what turned out to be a better surface for the willow-holders.
Speaking on the bat-first decision, Muzumdar said, "I mean, if you see throughout the fortnight, I think the pitches were on the slower side, and they turned quite a bit. So putting the score on the board and then defending it, we did have the luxury of having three quality spinners in our ranks. So I think that was predominantly the tactic: put the score on the board and then go out there and defend."
He reserved his praise for Shafali and Smriti and hailed the qualities that they bring to the table. "Absolutely fantastic (on Shafali). The left-hand-right-hand combination (with Smriti)... Shafali has got her own style and the firepower that she has, and just the charisma that she has on the pitch just puts the opposition on the back foot.
"Smriti, as usual, she has got that flair, she has got that touch. So they complement each other really well, and I'm glad that they had a good show time today."
Despite having made 183, India needed to keep Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu quiet, knowing she could still take the game away, as she, Harshitha Samarawickrama, and Kavisha Dilhari did when they chased 166 against India in the 2024 final.
On their plans for the Sri Lankan skipper, Muzumdar said, "We went back to the five-match series that we played in December against Sri Lanka in India, and how we dismissed Chamari, a very important wicket as far as Sri Lanka is concerned. So I thought that was the plan, but I'm glad that Deepti went on to execute it nicely."