Sept 17 (Reuters) - ⁠Sri Lankan hopes of ⁠a women's cricket medal at ‌the Asian Games have suffered a blow after batter Nilakshika Silva ​was ruled out ⁠due to a ⁠fractured finger, the country's board (SLC) ⁠said.

The middle-order ‌batter was Sri Lanka's top scorer ⁠at the Women's Asia Cup ​and ‌helped them reach the final ⁠of Twenty20 ​tournament where they lost to India on Sunday.

Sri ⁠Lanka, one of the ​top seeds in the eight-team knockout tournament at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, ⁠are also without spinner-allrounder Dewmi Vihanga, who suffered a knee injury before the ​Asia Cup.

Sri Lanka's ⁠bid for a medal begins ​against Malaysia on ‌Friday.

(Reporting by Chiranjit ​Ojha in Purulia, India; Editing by Peter Rutherford)