Asian Games 2026: Shafali Verma’s Blazing Century Powers India into Women’s Cricket Final

India have marched into the Asian Games 2026 women’s cricket final with a dominant 114-run victory over Bangladesh. Batting first, India posted 195/4, with opener Shafali Verma producing a sensational unbeaten 100 off just 49 balls, including three fours and nine sixes. Smriti Mandhana contributed 37 off 19 balls, while captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored 40 off 33 deliveries. Shafali completed her maiden international white-ball century off the final ball of the innings.

Bangladesh struggled against India’s bowling attack and were bowled out for just 81 in 15.4 overs. Dilara Akter top-scored with 27, while Deepti Sharma and Nandani Sharma claimed three wickets each and Sree Charani took two. In the other semifinal, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by eight wickets to set up the gold-medal clash with India. The final will be played on Tuesday, with India looking to retain its Asian Games gold. Smriti Mandhana also crossed 4,788 women’s T20I runs, moving past Suzie Bates to become the leading run-scorer in the format.