Shafali Verma scores the first women’s century at the Asian Games

Shafali Verma reached a hundred off 49 balls against Bangladesh in the Asian Games semifinal at Nisshin on 20 September 2026, becoming the first woman to score a century in the history of the Asian Games cricket competition. India made 195 for 4, bowled Bangladesh out for 81, and won by 114 runs to set up a gold-medal final against Sri Lanka.

The century was the obvious headline, but it was not the only record broken in twenty overs. By the time Shafali brought up three figures on the final ball of the innings, Smriti Mandhana had already become the highest run-scorer in women’s T20I history, and both openers had crossed 100 T20I sixes. The match produced more milestones than the scoreline suggests.

The century

	Figure
Runs	100 not out
Balls faced	49
Fours	3
Sixes	9
Strike rate	204.08

Shafali reached three figures on the final delivery of India’s innings, pulling Rabeya Khan to the boundary. The hundred came off exactly 49 balls, which ties Harmanpreet Kaur’s 49-ball century against New Zealand in November 2018 as the joint-fastest by an Indian woman in T20 internationals.

It was also her maiden T20I century. Shafali had converted just once in any format before this — her 171 in the Test against England in December 2023. In T20 cricket, her previous highest was 76, set three years ago and never bettered until now.

What the construction tells you

Nine sixes from 49 balls is not reckless hitting; it is targeted aggression. Shafali cleared the rope almost once every five deliveries, and she did it with enough control that the innings still reached three figures without a dismissal.

That balance is what separates a destructive innings from an improbable one. Bangladesh’s bowlers found no edge, offered no chance, because Shafali was not swinging blindly — she was choosing her balls and clearing them. A batter who miscues nine times in 49 balls is probably out; one who clears nine times is probably winning the match.

The other milestone: Smriti’s record

While Shafali was building her hundred, Smriti Mandhana passed Suzie Bates to become the leading run-scorer in women’s T20I history. She entered the match needing seven runs to match Bates’s 4,758 and got there with consecutive fours off Marufa Akter in the seventh over.

Batter	WT20I runs	Innings
Smriti Mandhana	4,788	178
Suzie Bates (NZ)	4,758	186
Meg Lanning (AUS)	4,100+	138

The record is built differently from the ones that came before it. Bates reached her total in 186 innings, playing well into her late thirties and accumulating across a decade. Mandhana reached hers in 178 innings, eight fewer, and she turned 30 only last July. The trajectory suggests she will hold the record for some time.

In the same innings, Mandhana also brought up 100 T20I sixes — the first Indian woman to reach the milestone. Shafali, with nine sixes in her hundred, passed her by the end of the match to finish on 102. Both openers now sit among the five players in the world to have cleared 100 sixes in the format.

The match

India	195 for 4 (20 overs)
Bangladesh	81 all out (15.4 overs)
Result	India won by 114 runs
Venue	Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin
Date	20 September 2026

Bangladesh were never close. Dilara Akter made 27 at the top, but nobody else reached double figures until Sultana Khatun’s unbeaten 12 at the end. Nandani Sharma and Deepti Sharma took three wickets each, exactly as they had done in the Asia Cup final a week earlier. The method has not changed, and it keeps working.

Where T20I centuries sit

This was only the third T20I century by an Indian woman. Harmanpreet Kaur scored the first, in November 2018, and Smriti Mandhana scored the second in December 2025. Shafali’s joins a short list, and it is the only one struck at a multi-sport Games.

Indian women’s T20I centuries
Harmanpreet Kaur	103 off 51 vs New Zealand, Nov 2018
Smriti Mandhana	100 not out vs Australia, Dec 2025
Shafali Verma	100 not out off 49 vs Bangladesh, Sep 2026

It is also worth noting who holds the global record for fastest women’s T20I century: Deandra Dottin’s 38-ball hundred against South Africa in 2010 remains unmatched. Shafali’s 49-ball version is fast for an Indian batter, but it is not close to the world mark.

What comes next

The final is against Sri Lanka on 22 September, a rematch of the Asia Cup final nine days earlier that India won by 72 runs. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the other semifinal, and Chamari Athapaththu remains their most dangerous threat — she scored a 53-ball 67 to carry that chase.

India have now beaten Bangladesh and Sri Lanka once each in this tournament, and both matches were comfortably won. The gold-medal match is where that comfort will be tested. History suggests India should win it; they have not lost a women’s cricket final at the Asian Games since the event was introduced at Hangzhou in 2022. But one good innings from Athapaththu is all it would take to complicate a final that otherwise looks settled.

What it does not prove

A century against Bangladesh in a semifinal does not prove Shafali has solved her conversion problem. Her career is dotted with starts that never turned into this, and one hundred — however spectacular — does not erase that pattern. What it proves is narrower: that she can do it when the platform is right, the pitch is good, and the occasion is large enough to focus rather than rush her.

It also does not guarantee a successful final. Individual brilliance in T20 cricket can carry matches, but it can also disappear between innings. Shafali may play exactly the same way on Monday and be out for 8; the format does not reward consistency the way Tests do. What the semifinal established is form, not certainty.

What it does establish is simpler: the talent that India have been waiting for Shafali to consistently deliver arrived on a stage that rewarded it, with records attached. Whether it continues is the question the final will answer.