India Women clinched their eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, beating Sri Lanka by 72 runs. A record 129-run opening stand by Smriti Mandhana (59) and Shafali Verma (68) set up a total of 183/5, before Sree Charani's 4/20 sealed the win.

India Women produced a commanding all-round performance to clinch the eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final in Dubai.After Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma powered India to 183/5 with a record 129-run opening stand, Sree Charani led the attack with an impressive 4/20 from four overs, while Deepti Sharma chipped in with 3/19 from her four-over spell.

Sri Lanka's Chase Falters Under Pressure

Chasing 184 in the high-pressure final, Sri Lanka endured an early setback in the opening over. Imesha Dulani began with a boundary, but Indian pacer Kranti Gaud responded strongly, bowling her on the fourth delivery to put the chasing side on the back foot.Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu then attempted to revive the innings alongside Vishmi Gunaratne. Athapaththu attacked during the powerplay, striking a six over deep square leg and a boundary off Shafali Verma in the fifth over.Sri Lanka reached 38/1 at the end of the powerplay, but India's disciplined bowling prevented the required scoring rate from coming down.Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur introduced spin once the field restrictions ended, and Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma quickly took control of the middle overs. Charani repeatedly troubled the Sri Lankan batters, while Deepti maintained pressure with economical bowling from the other end.With the required run rate climbing beyond 10 runs per over, Sri Lanka were forced to take more risks. Captain Chamari Athapaththu top-scored with 36 off 32 balls before being dismissed by Deepti Sharma in the 10th over. Deepti struck again in the same over to remove Vishmi Gunaratne, leaving Sri Lanka at 63/3 after 10 overs.Charani struck again in the 14th over to dismiss Harshitha Samarawickrama for 9 before removing Kavisha Dilhari (7) and Nilakshika Silva (22) in the 16th over, leaving Sri Lanka Women struggling at 102/6 after 16 overs. Shafali Verma then dismissed Hasini Perera for 1 in the following over, while Charani returned to complete her four-wicket haul by removing Sugandika Kumari. She finished with impressive figures of 4/20 from her four overs.Prema Rawat dismissed Mithali Ayodhya for a duck before Deepti Sharma removed Kaushani Nuthyangana for 9, completing Sri Lanka's collapse. The hosts were bowled out, handing India Women a comprehensive 72-run victory and the Asia Cup title.

Record-Breaking Innings by India's Openers

Earlier, the Indian opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana continued to make history as India posted a challenging total for Sri Lanka. Shafali posted an explosive 68 in 39 balls, with nine fours and two sixes, reaching the half-century in just 24 balls, while Smriti also made a solid 59 in 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes.

Verma Sets New Record for Fastest Fifty

Shafali's 24-ball fifty is the fastest in women's Asia Cup history, beating Mandhana's record of 25 balls fifty against Sri Lanka in the 2022 edition. The right-hander now has three fifty-plus scores in the ongoing edition, the joint-most by a player in a single Women's Asia Cup edition, alongside as many for Chamari Athapaththu during Sri Lanka’s victorious 2024 campaign. She is the leading run-getter in the tournament this year, with 236 runs in five matches and innings at an average of 47.20, with a strike rate of 171.01, with three fifties and a best score of 68.

Historic Partnership Records Tumble

Their opening stand of 129 runs for the first wicket is the highest in the women's Asia Cup history for any wicket, beating the record held by Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma's 128-run partnership against UAE in the 2022 edition. It is also the highest partnership in a final of any women's T20I tournament, going past the partnership of 120 runs by West Indies stars Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor against Australia in the 2016 Women's T20 World Cup final.Smriti and Shafali have six 100-plus stands in women's T20Is, tying with UAE's Esha Oza and Theertha Satish for most century stands in the format for any wicket.Smriti and Shafali also continued their magical run in women's T20Is. Now, across 105 innings, they have together aggregated 3,909 runs at an average of 38.32 and a run rate of 8.26, with six century stands and 24 half-century stands. No other pair has aggregated 3000-plus runs in the format, and of the 14 pairs to have totalled a minimum of 1,500 runs, none other has gone at above 8 runs per over.

Match Summary

Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. After the 129-run opening stand between Smriti and Shafali, Indian batting fell flat, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (14 in 14 balls) and Richa Ghosh (17 in 13 balls) failing to score big. A cameo from Bharti Fulmali (15* in five balls, with a four and a six) took India to 183/5 in 20 overs.Mithali Ayodhya (1/33 in four overs) and Chamari Athapaththu (1/34 in four overs) were the top bowlers for Sri Lanka. (ANI)(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)