Shafali century powers India into Asian Games final

In the Asian Games 2026 women's cricket semifinal match at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, India defeated Bangladesh by 114 runs thanks to Shafali Verma's maiden T20I hundred. India reached 195/4 thanks to the opener's unbeaten 49-ball 100, which was followed by Bangladesh's 81-run defeat by an all-round bowling performance. As a result, India will face Sri Lanka on Tuesday in the gold medal matchup, which will be a repeat of the 2023 Hangzhou final.

Another significant opening partnership between Shafali and Smriti Mandhana highlighted India's batting dominance; the pair put together 72 runs in the Powerplay before Smriti Mandhana was run out on the final ball of that phase. Mandhana is now the leading run-scorer in women's T20Is, surpassing Suzie Bates. Both batters took turns subduing the Bangladeshi attack. She also made her 100th T20I six in the fifth over, when India quickly passed fifty.

As she slog-swept Nahida Akter down the throat of deep middle-wicket, Mandhana lost for 37. G Kamalini's laborious 10-ball 3 resulted in India's scoring rate falling below 10 percent. Shafali, however, could not be stopped, and she made it to her 50th birthday with a six, which also marked her 100th appearance in the format. Harmanpreet Kaur began slowly but caught up with a couple of boundaries off Nahida, who endured a torrid outing as the Indian captain and Shafali tore into her in a 94-run partnership.

Shafali continued to dominate the bowlers as India reached 150 runs with a forgettable 15th over bowled by Marufa Akter. Harmanpreet was stumped off Rabeya Khan shortly after the leggie dropped the Indian captain off her own bowling, but they still fell short of the 200-run mark. Richa Ghosh was eliminated as a result of Marufa's successful execution of the yorker and slower delivery. Shafali reached her century with the innings' final ball, but Shorna Akter only gave up four runs in her final four balls.

Only three Bangladeshi batters reached double digits in the chase, and the only stand of substance was a 29-run third-wicket partnership between Dilara Akter and Nigar Sultana. Nandani Sharma dismissed Juraiya Ferdous on her birthday with a wicket off her first ball, and Kranti Gaud bowled out Sobhana Mostary shortly after.

Harmanpreet was quick to switch to spin as Dilara counterattacked the pacers. This move paid off right away as Shree Charani dismissed Nigar before Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma also took wickets. Bangladesh were seven down in the 11th over when Nandani turned to strike twice in the same delivery. After that, the batters went through the motions knowing that the game was over. There was very little that India did wrong, with the exception of a Shreyanka over that resulted in 15 runs. After that, Deepti added the final two wickets to her collection, concluding Bangladesh's innings in just 16 overs.