India began their Asian Games women’s cricket gold medal defence with a dominant eight-wicket win over hosts Japan. Shafali Verma smashed an unbeaten 40 off 15 balls, while Sree Charani claimed four wickets as India chased down 58 in just five overs
Published Date – 18 September 2026, 02:33 PM
Nisshin: India women’s cricket team began its gold medal defence at the Asian Games in style, registering a comfortable eight-wicket win over hosts Japan in the fourth quarterfinal at Korogi Sports Park here on Friday.
Shafali Verma smashed an unbeaten 40 off 15 balls, while Sree Charani picked up a four-wicket haul as the Women in Blue chased down a meagre target of 58 in just five overs.
Shafali set the tone for the paltry chase, opening with the promoted G Kamalini. While the young Kamalini was dismissed for a two-ball duck, Shafali unleashed her aggression with four boundaries in a 17-run first over.
Following Kamalini’s dismissal in the second over by Nonoha Yasumoto, India also lost Bharti Fulmali for six runs in the third over. But Shafali remained unfazed by the two dismissals, hitting three more fours in the fifth over before sealing the game with a six.
Richa Ghosh also had a brief stay in the middle, scoring 12 off six deliveries with a couple of fours.
Earlier, No. 1 T20I bowler Charani starred with another four-wicket haul. Charani, who picked up 4-20 in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, scalped 4-10 in her four overs against Japan as her spell played a pivotal role in keeping the hosts in check.
While Charani did the majority of the damage, Shafali also picked up a couple of wickets. Returning from a long injury layoff, Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma scalped one wicket each to complete the downfall of the hosts.
India will now meet Bangladesh in the second semifinal on Sunday. Bangladesh advanced to the semifinal after their quarterfinal against China was washed out. As Bangladesh were the higher-ranked side, they progressed to the semifinals.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will meet in the first semifinal, which will take place earlier in the day on Sunday.
