Reigning champions India stormed into the women’s cricket final at the Asian Games 2026 with a commanding 114-run victory over Bangladesh on Sunday. The result guaranteed India at least a silver medal and took the country’s medal tally at the continental showpiece to four.
Shafali Verma was the star of the show, smashing her maiden T20I century to power India to 195/4 after they opted to bat first. The aggressive opener remained unbeaten on 100 off just 49 balls, with nine sixes and three fours, bringing up the landmark in the final over of India’s innings.
Shafali received excellent support from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur. The opening pair raced to 72 before Mandhana was dismissed for 37 by Nahida Akter, who had the Indian opener caught behind after inducing a false stroke.
Mandhana still made history, moving past New Zealand great Suzie Bates to become the leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is. India then lost Gunalan Kamalini for just three, but Shafali continued her assault on the Bangladesh bowlers.
Harmanpreet joined her in the middle and played a crucial supporting role, scoring 40 off 33 balls. The pair added 94 runs from just 55 deliveries for the fourth wicket, ensuring India finished with a daunting total.
Bangladesh's chase never gathered momentum as India’s bowlers struck at regular intervals. Opener Dilara Akter offered some resistance with 27 off 23 balls, including four fours and a six, but four of Bangladesh’s top six batters were dismissed for single-digit scores.
Nandani Sharma was the pick of the Indian bowlers, finishing with impressive figures of 3/25 from four overs. She also came close to claiming a hat-trick in the 11th over as Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 81 in 15.4 overs.
The victory set up a gold-medal clash with Sri Lanka on Tuesday, repeating the final from the previous Asian Games. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in the other semifinal, while Bangladesh will meet Pakistan in the bronze-medal match.
