Shafali Verma’s 100 powers India to Asian Games final

A stunning 49-ball hundred by Shafali Verma lit up a humid Nagoya afternoon as India posted 195 for four and then rolled Bangladesh for 81 in 15.4 overs to book a place in the women’s Asian Games final^3,6. Verma’s maiden T20I century, featuring nine sixes, came in the semi-final against Bangladesh, with Smriti Mandhana contributing 37 and Harmanpreet Kaur 40 to the total^3,1.

The bowlers, led by Nandani Sharma, Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani, shared eight Bangladesh wickets to end the chase early and set up a gold-medal clash against Sri Lanka, a repeat of the 2023 Hangzhou final^6,3,8. This win confirms India’s medal in cricket and keeps their clean medal-winning streak intact at the Games, where shooting and martial arts had already added silver and bronze to their tally⁴.

In the match at Nagoya, the Indian innings unfolded with Verma orchestrating the charge from the outset, her 49-ball innings punctuated by precise power hitting that found gaps through the field and beyond the boundary ropes, while Mandhana’s composed 37 and Kaur’s brisk 40 supplied the middle-order ballast that pushed the total into a competitive range. Bangladesh’s innings faltered as Sharma’s pace and length forced errors, with Shree Charani’s early strikes pegging back the chase and effectively sealing the semifinal for India before the target even neared three figures.

The victory mirrors the melodrama of the 2023 Hangzhou final as India prepared to meet Sri Lanka once more, with the nation already savoring a cricket medal among the broader haul that has seen shooters and martial artists contribute silvers and bronzes to India’s podium tally.