Shafali’s Record Knock Drives India Into Asian Games Final

India women secured their place in the Asian Games cricket gold-medal match with a commanding 114-run victory over Bangladesh in the semi-final at Nisshin on Sunday.

Shafali Verma delivered a landmark performance, remaining unbeaten on 100 as India reached 195/4 after opting to bat first.

The opener registered her first white-ball century and became the first woman to score a hundred in Asian Games cricket.

Shafali’s unbeaten innings featured three boundaries and nine sixes as she powered India towards a formidable total.

Her nine maximums also took her tally for 2026 to 35 sixes in women’s T20Is, moving her beyond Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu’s previous calendar-year mark of 32.

Smriti Mandhana provided India with an explosive start alongside Shafali, contributing 37 from 19 deliveries as the pair added 72 during the powerplay.

Mandhana departed from the final ball of the sixth over, while G Kamalini managed only three before Harmanpreet Kaur joined Shafali at the crease.

The Indian captain made a valuable unbeaten contribution of 40 as Shafali completed her century from the final delivery of the innings.

Indian Bowlers Seal Comfortable Win

Bangladesh struggled to build momentum during their chase and eventually folded for 81 in 15.4 overs.

Deepti Sharma and Nandni Sharma led India’s bowling attack with three wickets each, while Sree Charani claimed two dismissals.

Kranti Gaud and Shreyanka Patil also struck as India continued to remove Bangladesh batters at regular intervals.

India will now face Sri Lanka in Tuesday’s gold-medal encounter, recreating the final from the previous Asian Games and the recently played Women’s Asia Cup.

India enter the title clash as defending Asian Games champions after securing gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.

Brief Scores: India 195/4 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 100*, Harmanpreet Kaur 40) beat Bangladesh 81 all out in 15.4 overs (Dilara Akter 27; Deepti Sharma 3-7, Nandni Sharma 3-25, Sree Charani 2-7) by 114 runs.

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