Dubai, Sep 13 (IANS) India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first against Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 final here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
India made a change to their XI for the first time this tournament after Kaur won her maiden toss in the 2026 Asia Cup as the Women in Blue brought in G Kamalini for Pratika Rawal. This will be Kamalini’s as she got her first game of the tournament and only her second T20I for India.
India and Sri Lanka are both undefeated in the ongoing tournament, with the Women in Blue having looked far more dominant than Sri Lanka.
India have tamed every other opponent with superb all-round performance, while Sri Lanka have been found wanting in the batting department. Their top-order batters have not been at the top of their game, including captain Chamari Athapaththu, who has only 63 runs from four innings.
Meanwhile, India have looked far more dominant in all the departments, with Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana doing the bulk of the scoring. Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani have been highly penetrative with the ball, with 11 and eight wickets, respectively.
India are looking for a record-extending eighth Asia Cup title after winning four continental tournaments in the ODI format and three in T20Is.
The Women in Blue have a very strong record against Sri Lanka and swept them in a five-match T20I series last year in December. They have also won nine of their previous 10 T20Is against Sri Lanka, but their only defeat came in the 2024 Asia Cup final in Dambulla.
“Yeah, we are going to bat first today. I feel it’s a very important game for us, and I think having a score on the board is always positive. That is the reason we decided as a group that we’ll bat first,” India captain Kaur said at the toss.
“Every final is very important, and at the same time, there is a lot of pressure. I think today’s game is about playing good cricket, staying in the moment and giving your best. We do have one change. Pratika is resting today; Kamini is back. She has a lot of ability, and hopefully she’ll enjoy herself today. We are not keeping a specific target in mind. It’s all about using the batting power-play and then see how much we can get,” she added.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have also made a change to their XI for the final with Vishmi Gunaratne coming in for Sanjana Kavindi. “If we won the toss, definitely we would have bowl first, because we back our skills. Last few games we have bowled really good. Actually, it’s a really good thing for me as well as the team. As a country, we need to improve our cricket all the time. So we have good players. We will stick with our plans and we’ll try to play positive cricket in the middle.
“We are going with one change: Vishmi Gunaratne is playing in place of Sanjana Kavindi. I felt we needed some experience. (The) first six overs (are) very crucial. So if we can get early (wickets), I think (there will be) pressure on them,” Sri Lankan skipper Athapaththu said at the toss.
Playing XIs:
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu(c), Imesha Dulani, Vishmi Gunaratne, Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Sugandika Kumari, Chamudi Praboda, Mithali Ayodhya
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh(w), Gunalan Kamalini, Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Nandani Sharma
