The two unbeaten sides, the defending champions Sri Lanka, led by skipper Chamari Athapaththu, were up against the runners-up of the previous edition, India, led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, in the grand finale on 13th September 2026 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, in the ongoing 6th edition of the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup hosted by the UAE for the first time.
India defeated Bangladesh by 40 runs in the 1st semi-final, and Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 4 wickets in the 2nd semi-final to book their respective spots for the title clash, following their unbeaten run in the league stage of the ongoing edition.
Both sides made a change each; the experienced Vishmi Gunaratne returned to the side, replacing the 17-year-old Sanjana Kavindi. India, on the other hand, flipped the script by bringing the 18-year-old left-handed wicket-keeper batter Gunalan Kamalini, replacing Pratika Rawal in the starting 11.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first. The Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana justified the skipper’s call to put the runs on the board by stitching the highest opening stand in the history of the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, worth 129 runs, to set a solid base for the fireworks later on in the innings. Chamodi Praboda broke the stand, by sending an ominous Shafali Verma (68 off 39 balls) back to the pavilion in the 13th over of the innings to provide the much-needed 1st breakthrough for Sri Lanka. She registered her 3rd half-century of the tournament before getting dismissed.
An unfortunate run-out ended Smriti Mandhana’s promising stay (59 off 39 balls) at the crease in the 14th over of the innings. A 28-run stand for the 3rd wicket between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (14 off 14 balls) and the wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh (17 off 13 balls) took them past the 150-run mark. Gunalan Kamalini’s cameo (15* off 5 balls) pushed India past the 180-run mark.
Mithali Ayodhya (4-0-33-1), skipper Chamari Athapaththu (4-0-34-1) and Chamudi Praboda (4-0-40-1) were the only wicket-takers with the ball for Sri Lanka.
Kranti Gaud had the last laugh after being smacked for a boundary, dismissing Imesha Dulani in the opening over of the chase of 184, providing a dream start for India. Vishmi Gunaratne joined skipper Chamari Athapaththu at the crease, and the duo led the recovery with a much-needed 58-run stand for the 2nd wicket.
Deepti Sharma got the big scalp of the opposition skipper Chamari Athapaththu (36 off 32 balls) back to the pavilion in the 10th over of the innings to provide the massive 2nd breakthrough for India. Nilakshika Silva and Harshitha Samarawickrama stitched another promising 23-run stand for the 4th wicket. Shree Charani’s brilliant caught-and-bowled landed another decisive blow for Sri Lanka, dismissing Harshitha Samarawickrama (9 off 14 balls) in the 14th over of the innings.
India pulled off another classic spin choke, triggering a collapse as Sri Lanka were eventually bundled out for 111 on the final ball of the game, falling 72 runs short of the target. Sri Lanka lost their last 6 wickets for just 25 runs. Vishmi Gunaratne (20 off 22 balls) and Nilakshika Silva (22 off 16 balls) were the only other batters to enter the double digits with the bat for Sri Lanka.
N Sree Charani registered 4-1-20-4 with the ball, while Deepti Sharma (4-0-19-3), Shafali Verma (4-0-23-1), and Prema Rawat (3-0-22-1) were sensational with the ball for India.
Shafali Verma ended as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 236 runs at a strike rate of 171.01 and an outstanding average of 47.20 in 5 innings, including three half-centuries in five matches with the bat for India throughout the tournament. Besides her exploits with the bat, she also picked up 2 wickets at an economy of 5.16 in 4 innings with the ball for her side. Off-spinner Deepti Sharma ended as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 14 wickets at an average of 4.21 and an economy of 3.84 in five innings and matches with the ball for her side, while also scoring 36 runs at a strike rate of 102.85 in five innings with the ball for her side in the tournament.
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