Mandhana stars as women's T20 brings India's first gold of Nagoya Games

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 22 - India secured their first gold of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, with the women's team crushing Sri Lanka by 147 runs to retain their cricket Twenty20 title in dominant fashion.

Electing to bat in a rematch of the Hangzhou final, India racked up an imposing 216-3 at the Korogi Sports Park, propelled by blistering knocks from openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.

The defending champions then delivered a clinical bowling performance, bundling out Sri Lanka for 69 in under 16 overs.

"It was good to see Smriti and Shafali give us a big start again, and in between all the partnerships, they were very crucial," skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said.

"Our batters have been outstanding in the last two tournaments — Asia Cup and Asian Games — and they've been taking responsibility and giving us breakthroughs."

"We're really happy that we have opened the gate now, and hopefully we'll see many more golds coming up (for India)."

Mandhana (79) and Verma (48) set a fiery tempo early on, dismantling the Sri Lankan attack in a 99-run opening stand.

A mistimed reverse shot denied Verma her half-century, but Mandhana continued in sublime touch. The left-hander, who became the first batter in women's cricket to reach 11,000 international runs, pulled and drove with authority and seemed well on course for a century.

Her 45-ball blitz finally ended when she holed out to deep backward square attempting her eighth six.

Richa Ghosh provided late-innings fireworks, blasting an unbeaten 49 off just 22 balls to power India well beyond the 200-run mark.

Verma returned to trouble Sri Lanka with the ball, striking in consecutive overs with her off-spin to remove Imesha Dulani and Hasini Perera.

Sri Lanka's faint hopes rested on talismanic skipper Chamari Athapaththu (27), who found herself under mounting pressure following the early collapse.

Attempting to break the shackles, Athapaththu miscued a delivery from off-spinner Deepti Sharma — a dismissal that effectively sealed Sri Lanka's fate.

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 31 runs to secure the bronze medal. REUTERS