Shafali’s explosive ton helps India reach consecutive Asiad women’s cricket final

Nisshin: India beat Bangladesh by a mighty 114-run margin to reach the successive Asian Games women’s cricket final. India is now guaranteed a medal at the event, after a dominant victory here on Sunday.

Having won the toss, India elected to bat first with opener Shafali Verma’s undisputed knock of 100 not out off 49 balls, taking them to an ample total of 195/4. Coming back off an all-round display in the previous game, Shafali began from where she left off with an innings that included 3 fours and 9 sixes. Fellow opener Smriti Mandhana, 37(19), alongside Shafali helped India to a great start to the innings, followed by a crucially supportive knock from skipper Harmanpreet Singh, 40(33), later in the innings.

The Indian bowling unit built on the pressure earlier in the second innings to force a shaky Bangladesh side to collapse. Deepti Sharma 7/3 and Nandini Sharma 25/3 led the bowling charts for India. Dilara Akter Dola 27(23) was the top scorer of the lot, with Sharmin Supta 10(20) being the only other batter to cross double figures for Bangladesh. India will face Sri Lanka for the gold medal on Tuesday.

Brief Scores:

India: 195 for 4 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 100 not out, Harmanpreet Kaur 40(33); Sanjida Maghla 25/1).

Bangladesh: 81 all out in 15.4 overs (Dilara Akter Dola 27, Deepti Sharma 7/3, Nandini Sharma 25/3).