Shafali Verma smashed a blistering unbeaten 100 off 49 balls as India crushed Bangladesh by 114 runs in the Asian Games semifinal at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, storming into the gold medal clash.

The opener’s maiden T20I hundred, laced with three fours and nine sixes, was also her first-ever century in international cricket, and it could not have come on a bigger stage.

The innings that broke Bangladesh

India opted to bat first and piled up 195 for 4. Shafali found an ideal partner in Smriti Mandhana, who struck 37 off 19 balls with five fours and two sixes, becoming the first Indian to reach 100 sixes in women’s T20Is.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur added a fluent 40 off 33 balls, but the evening belonged to Shafali. Nine deliveries sailed beyond the ropes as she took her tally of sixes in the format past 100, dismantling the Bangladesh attack with breathtaking ease.

Bangladesh’s chase never got going. They were bundled out for 81 in 15.4 overs, with Deepti Sharma (3 for 7), Nandani Sharma (3 for 25) and Sree Charani (2 for 7) sharing the spoils. Only Dilara Akter, with 27, offered resistance.

The 114-run margin is India’s biggest ever victory by runs against a full-member nation in women’s T20Is.

Gold in sight for defending champions

India, defending their Asian Games gold medal, will now face Sri Lanka in the final. The defending champions have looked formidable through the tournament, and Shafali’s return to devastating form makes them firm favourites.

Celebrating her landmark on Instagram, Shafali wrote that she had dreamed it, manifested it and worked for it, calling the hundred the product of time, patience and belief, and declaring herself ready for the final.

After years of near-misses, the 22-year-old finally has the hundred her talent always promised. If she carries this form into the gold medal match, India will take some stopping.