Shafali smashes nine sixes in 49-ball hundred against Bangladesh

Shafali Verma smashed nine sixes in a 49-ball unbeaten 100 against Bangladesh in the Asian Games semifinal.

India scored 195 for 4 and won by 114 runs.

Harmanpreet Kaur contributed 40 and Smriti Mandhana 37.

Bangladesh were all out for 81 in 15.4 overs.

India will now play Sri Lanka in the final.

Deepti Sharma and Nandani Sharma took three wickets each as Bangladesh collapsed to 81.

The 114-run margin was India’s emphatic answer to a Bangladesh side that had reached the semifinal without playing a completed quarterfinal.

India will meet Sri Lanka in the gold medal match on Tuesday, September 22, while Bangladesh will play Pakistan for bronze.

The win guarantees India at least a silver medal at the Asian Games.

India, the defending champions, won gold in women’s cricket at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.

Earlier in the tournament, India beat Japan by eight wickets in the quarterfinal after bowling them out for 57.

In the quarterfinal, Shafali had hit 40 off 15 balls as India chased 58 in five overs.

The two sides had also met in the Women’s Asia Cup semifinal earlier in September, which India won by 40 runs.

The semifinal was played on Sunday, September 20, 2026, at 10:30 am IST.

India’s Asian Games squad features Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh among its senior players.

Sree Charani was India’s leading bowler in the quarterfinal against Japan, taking four wickets.

The win sets up a chance for India to play for gold at a second Asian Games in a row.

India made 195 for 4 in their 20 overs at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, and Bangladesh were bowled out for 81 in 15.4 overs.

Shafali Verma scored 100 not out off 49 balls, an innings that included nine sixes.

Shafali Verma (file photo, 2020), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0