A 49-ball unbeaten hundred from Shafali Verma and three-wicket hauls apiece for Nandani Sharma and Deeoti Sharma helped India march into the final of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Batting first in Nisshin against Bangladesh, India posted 195 for 4, with Shafali bringing up her maiden white-ball international hundred off the final ball of the innings. She pummelled nine sixes and three fours in an innings that left Bangladesh needing a record chase to reach the final.

Smriti Mandhana gave India a rapid start with a 19-ball 37, during which she became the leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is, while Harmanpreet Kaur found some form with a 33-ball 40 from No. 4.

India’s innings began with a 36-ball opening stand of 72, with Shafali setting the pace by smashing 34 off her first 17 deliveries, while Mandhana initially played second fiddle before gaining pace. G Kamalini, at No. 3, failed to make use of another opportunity, while Richa Ghosh made only two. Harmanpreet started sluggishly, as she has tended to in the recent past, but overcame those early struggles to land some lusty blows towards the end of the innings. She added 94 off 55 balls with Shafali for the third wicket.

Bangladesh never seriously threatened the target. Dilara Akter made 27 at the top of the order, but opening partner Juairiya Ferdous was dismissed for a duck and Bangladesh’s Nos. 3 to 5 were unable to get going. Sultana Khatun, batting at No. 9, was their second-highest scorer with just 12.

Nandani got the first wicket in the second over after which fellow new-ball bowler Kranti Gaud delivered a second blow in the third over. Shree Charani then sent Nigar Sultana back in the final over of the powerplay to leave Bangladesh at 38 for 3.

There was no way in as Bangladesh failed to get any partnership going and a double-wicket 11th over from Nandani exposed the tail. Deepti then trapped Marufa Akter lbw and had Sanjida Akter holing out in the 16th over to complete the resounding win.

India will now face Sri Lanka in the gold-medal match, a repeat of the final from 2023. Bangladesh will meet Pakistan for the bronze-medal fixture.

Scores:
India Women 195 for 4 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 37, Shafali Verma 100*, Harmanpreet Kaur 40: Marufa Akter 1-43, Sanjida Akter Meghla 1-25, Rabeya Khan 1-35, Nahida Akter 1-45) beat Bangladesh Women 81 in 15.4 overs  (Dilara Akter  27, Sharmin Akhter 10,  Sultana Khatun 12*; Kranti Gaud 1-20,  Nandani Sharma 3-25. Shree Charani 2-07, Shreyanka Patil 1-22, Deepti Sharma 3-07) by 114 runs

[Cricinfo]

Chamari Athapaththu hit six sixes in an unbeaten 50-ball 83 to lead Sri Lanka into the final of the Asian Games Women’s Cricket Competition. Her innings helped Sri Lanka equal their highest total in a successful chase,  after fifties from Shawaal Zulfiqar and Ayesha Zafar had helped Pakistan set them a target of 178.

Athapaththu was quiet at the start of her innings, and she could afford it because her opening partner Imesha Dulani gave Sri Lanka immediate impetus in their chase, hitting five fours in the first four overs before falling for a tone-setting 21-ball 27. At that point, Athapaththu was batting on 4 off 9. By the end of the powerplay, she had moved to 7 off 12, and hadn’t hit a single boundary.

The change of gear took place in a 20-run eighth over, in which she tonked Momina Riasat for 6, 4, 6, 4. The second six was a fortuitous one, a slog-sweep that Fatima Sana caught at deep midwicket only to step on the rope while attempting to toss the ball back into the field of play. A clean catch would have sent Athapaththu back for 18 off 19 balls.

Instead, the left-handed Athapaththu continued to take full toll of her match-up against left-arm spin, hitting two fours and a six off Nashra Sandhu in the 10th over to bring the equation down to 90 off 60 balls.

It was still far from straightforward, but Sri Lanka were unstoppable, with Hasini Perera catching up with her captain’s rate of scoring by hitting Tuba Hassan for two sixes and a four in the 13th over. Hasini fell at the end of the 14th over for a 26-ball 42, having put on 95 with Athapaththu in 56 balls.

When Hasini fell, Sri Lanka needed 47 off 36 balls; Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama needed just 23 of those balls to finish the job.

Sent in to bat, Pakistan posted their highest-ever T20I total against Sri Lanka, but they may have ended their innings feeling they had left a few runs out in the middle. Zulfiqar scored her second T20I half-century, but her 54 consumed as many as 50 balls. The impetus for Pakistan’s total came from Zafar, who came in at No. 4 and smacked 71 off just 40 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes.

Zafar and Zulfiqar put on 115 for the third wicket in 70 balls, and nearly all the heavy hitting came from one end, with Zulfiqar contributing 37 off 30 to the partnership.

Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 178 for 2 in 17.5 overs (Imesha Dulani 27, Chamari Athapaththu 83*, Hasini Perera  42, Harshitha Samarawickrema 17*; Fatima Sana 1-24, Nashra Sandhu 1-38) beat Pakistan Women  177 for 4 ( Shawaal Zulfiqar 54, Saira Jabeen 17, Ayesha Zafar 71, Fatima Sana 20*; Sugandika Kumari 1-31, Chamari Athapaththu 1-30, Kavya Kavindi 1-13 ) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

by Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka have conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead to England in the three match T20I series and were staring down the barrel of a whitewash heading into Saturday’s final game at Old Trafford.

Despite travelling to the UK well in advance and playing warm up games to acclimatise to conditions, Sri Lanka have barely landed a punch. Both defeats have come by massive margins and more worryingly, they have exposed just how far the team has fallen behind the leading sides in T20 cricket.

The shortest format has been Sri Lanka’s Achilles heel for some time. Despite several players featuring in the IPL and other franchise leagues, not to mention having a domestic competition of our own in the LPL, the batting continues to lack the firepower required to consistently clear the ropes.

But the bigger concern is the lack of creativity. Sri Lankan cricket was once renowned for innovation and audacity although firepower was not our forte.

There was T.M. Dilshan, who turned conventional batting on its head by scooping the ball over the wicketkeeper and eventually had the shot named after him. Before him came Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva, two fearless stroke makers who destroyed bowling attacks and ended many an international career along the way.

Even Kumar Sangakkara, as he grew older, reinvented his white ball game, adding strokes and finding new scoring areas. It is therefore disappointing to see the current crop so reluctant to think outside the box. You wonder why Sri Lanka are no longer producing that kind of clever, inventive batsmanship.

One glaring issue is that Sri Lanka went into the World Cup with largely the same set of batsmen. It did not work. Yet the selectors have done precious little since to look beyond the established names and back someone who could provide a breath of fresh air.

If there is to be a change, the name being spoken about appears to be Niroshan Dickwella. At 33, however, that can hardly be described as a forward-thinking move. Dickwella has plenty of experience, but he is certainly not an investment for the future. The sooner the selectors recognise that, the better.

One man who appears to have slipped through the cracks is Avishka Fernando. He has been in red hot form for SSC in domestic cricket this season and crucially, he can play genuine pace and is capable of hitting quick bowlers back over their heads.

There may be concerns over his fitness, but if the skill is there, pick the player and get the coaches and trainers to work on the fitness. You cannot manufacture that ability to take on high class fast bowling quite so easily.

Sahan Arachchige and Pavan Rathnayake should also be part of the conversation. The selectors need to give serious thought to whether certain players should be specialists rather than trying to squeeze the same names into all three formats.

The harsh lesson from the England series is that Sri Lanka’s T20 cricket is miles behind the pace. We appear at least five years behind the leading teams. England, India, Australia and New Zealand are operating in a different league, and several other nations have also overtaken us.

That is the bitter truth this series has laid bare. There is little point sugar coating it. Sri Lanka need to bite the bullet, accept where they stand and take remedial measures.

Our approach to T20 cricket itself needs a rethink. The traditional Sri Lankan template seems to be to take a few risks during the six over Powerplay, with the loss of a couple of wickets considered acceptable, consolidate from overs seven to 15 and then launch at the death.

When everything clicks, that might get you 180.

For England, 180 is no longer the destination. They attack from ball one, keep attacking through the middle overs and when it comes off, threaten scores in the region of 230 or 240. There is no lengthy consolidation phase because their philosophy is built around relentless pressure on the bowling side.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are trying to play yesterday’s T20 cricket in today’s game.

That is why this series should be treated as a wake up call rather than simply another defeat overseas. The problem needs to be addressed head-on from selection and player development to power hitting, innovation and the very philosophy with which Sri Lanka approach the format.

Otherwise, reaching the semi-finals of a global white ball event could remain an unfulfilled ambition for a long time to come.