Having won all their matches, India Women and Sri Lanka will now face each other in the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 final, and it promises to be a closely fought contest.
Just before the big game, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu has received some very special advice on how to deal with Shafali Verma—and it has come from Hong Kong Women’s cricketer Marina Lamplough.
Lamplough’s Crucial Advice to Get Shafali Verma’s Wicket
Anyone who watched the India vs Bangladesh semi-final knows just how crucial it is to get Verma’s wicket. In such a situation, Lamplough herself has given Athapaththu some advice: “Shafali: Don’t Bowl Too Full.”
She captioned the post, “@chamari_athapaththu58 add this to your notes for the Asia Cup final tomorrow xx.”
This advice actually came while Lamplough was watching the repeat telecast of the Hong Kong Women’s match against India. During the replay, the team could be seen celebrating after watching Mandhana get run out.
For context, although Hong Kong lost that match, the team did manage to dismiss a key batter like Verma. Lamplough took the catch, while Ruchitha Venkatesh was the bowler.
Looking at Verma’s performances for India Women so far, she started the tournament with a powerful 64 against Thailand. She then scored 28 against Hong Kong. Her performance against Pakistan wasn’t as impressive, with Verma getting out for just 12 runs, but she bounced back in the crucial semi-final against Bangladesh, scoring a brilliant 64.
Talking about the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 final, India Women will face Sri Lanka Women on 13 September 2026, at the Dubai International Stadium, with the match scheduled for 6:30 PM local Dubai time.
It’s worth remembering that Sri Lanka, just like India Women, is still unbeaten in the tournament. This makes the final a closely matched contest between two teams who have looked equally strong so far.
India Women and Sri Lanka Women have already faced each other several times in Asia Cup finals. When the tournament was played in the ODI format, the two teams met in four finals between 2004 and 2008, with India Women winning all four.
However, Sri Lanka has the most recent bragging rights. They won the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup final by defeating India, making this 2026 final another important chapter in the rivalry between the two teams.