Shafali Verma was unwell when she walked out to bat in the Asian Games 2026 semi-final against Bangladesh on September 20 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan. She walked off with an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls, 9 sixes, 3 fours, and a place in history as the first woman to score a century in Asian Games cricket.
“I wasn’t feeling well at all today. Yet, I was determined to stay on the pitch for the sake of the team and I did.”
Shafali Verma, post-match interview, September 20, 2026
India posted 195/4 and bowled Bangladesh out for 81 in 15.4 overs, winning by 114 runs to reach the gold medal final.
What cameras showed was controlled violence. What they could not show was the discipline behind it: a batter who once swung at everything choosing her moments, rotating strike, and reaching her century with a single off the last ball of the innings.
The opening stand with Smriti Mandhana produced 72 runs during the powerplay. Mandhana scored 37 off 19 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes before departing. During that cameo, she became the all-time leading run-scorer in women’s T20I cricket, overtaking Suzie Bates’ 4,758 runs, and reached 100 sixes in the format.
After Mandhana’s dismissal, Shafali built a 94-run third-wicket partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who contributed 40 off 33 balls. The acceleration was deliberate. Shafali hit consecutive sixes off Nahida Akter in the 17th over to move into the 90s, then placed the ball wide of cover-point for a single off Shorna Akter on the final delivery to complete her hundred.
“I always tried to rotate the strike. I didn’t hesitate at all to take singles today. I was determined not to waste any delivery that I could hit.”
Shafali Verma, post-match interview, September 20, 2026
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Bangladesh had no answer. Deepti Sharma took 3/7, Nandani Sharma 3/25, and Sree Charani 2/7. Dilara Akter’s 27 was the highest score in a chase that lasted 15.4 overs.
The records from this one innings are stacked. Shafali became only the second Indian cricketer, after Yashasvi Jaiswal in 2023 at Hangzhou, to score a century at the Asian Games. Her 49-ball hundred is the joint fourth-fastest in women’s T20I history, level with Harmanpreet Kaur’s 103 against New Zealand in 2018. She is the third Indian woman to score a T20I century, after Mandhana (124 and 112) and Kaur (103). Her 9 sixes tied the record for the most in a single women’s T20I innings. India’s 12 sixes as a team set a new record for the most in a women’s T20I innings.
In 2026 alone, Shafali has hit 35 sixes, the most by any woman in a calendar year, at a rate of one every 14.31 balls. She has 815 runs this year, second only to Laura Wolvaardt’s 824.
“Nice run of form in T20 international cricket in the last 3 months for Shafali Verma. A first white ball international century being a T20i century is due reward.”
Ian Bishop, social media, September 20, 2026
What 9 Sixes in 49 Balls Costs a Body
Hitting one six in international cricket takes timing, strength, and confidence that the ball will clear the rope. Hitting nine in 49 balls, in a semi-final, while physically unwell, takes something different. It takes a body that has trained to repeat the same explosive movement under fatigue and a mind that refuses to second-guess the shot even when the legs are heavy. Every maximum demands full commitment from the core, shoulders, and wrists. Doing it nine times in 49 deliveries means there is no recovery window between efforts.
This is where 2026 Shafali is different from the teenager who burst onto the scene in 2019. The teenager hit boundaries because she could. This version hits them because she chooses to, and rotates strike when she does not. That is seven years of learning compressed into 49 balls on a day her body was telling her to stop.
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India face Sri Lanka in the gold medal final on September 22 in a repeat of the 2023 Asian Games final, where India won the title.
“Chamari Athapaththu is in excellent form. There is no doubt that she is one of the best cricketers in the world. However, we will step onto the field fully prepared for all of that.”
Shafali Verma, post-match interview, September 20, 2026
India are guaranteed at least a silver medal. Based on what Shafali produced on a day she should not have been at her best, they will be confident of gold.
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