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]

Sri Lanka hold a slight edge over Pakistan  heading into Sunday’s semi-final, although contests between the two sides have generally been close in this format. Their most recent meeting came in the Asia Cup semi-final, where Sri Lanka overcame Pakistan despite an all-round threat from Fatima Sana.

In the Asian Games quarter-final, Pakistan were pushed hard again, surviving a Thailand scare  in a rain-affected chase of 92. They slipped to 47 for 4 before Sana came to their rescue, reinforcing the reliance on captain when their batting has faltered