Shafali Verma hit an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls as India Women thrashed Bangladesh by 114 runs in the Asian Games semifinal on Sunday.
India made 195 for 4, with Harmanpreet Kaur scoring 40 and Smriti Mandhana 37, and then bowled Bangladesh out for 81 in 15.4 overs.
Shafali’s innings, which included nine sixes, was her maiden T20 international century and, according to reports, the first hundred by a woman at the Asian Games.
Deepti Sharma and Nandani Sharma took three wickets each.
India will play Sri Lanka in the final on Tuesday, having secured at least a silver medal.
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.
It was Shafali’s maiden T20 international century, and reports described her as the first woman to score a hundred at the Asian Games.
Harmanpreet Kaur scored 40 and Smriti Mandhana added 37 in India’s total of 195 for 4.
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.
Shafali Verma (file photo, 2020), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
