India bowl Japan out for 57 and chase it down in five overs
Shree Charani took four for 10 and Shafali Verma made 40 not out from 15 balls as India reached the Asian Games semi-finals with 90 balls to spare in Nisshin.
India beat Japan by eight wickets in the quarter-final of the women's cricket competition at the Asian Games on Friday, bowling the hosts out for 57 and passing the target inside five overs.
The margin was 90 balls. India play Bangladesh in the semi-final on September 20; Pakistan play Sri Lanka in the other.
The bowling
India won the toss at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin and chose to field.
Shree Charani was the reason Japan never got going. She bowled four overs, two of them maidens, conceded ten runs and took four wickets, and two of those came in the same over, both caught off miscued lofts. Shafali Verma took two for 13 and Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma one apiece; Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma went wicketless but conceded four and six runs from two overs each.
Japan lost their first two wickets in consecutive balls, at 24, and their last four for five runs. Two batters were run out, both times with Richa Ghosh taking the bails off. Ayaka Kato-Stafford top-scored with 25 from 47 balls and Haruna Iwasaki made 10; nobody else reached double figures. The innings ended on 57 with one ball of the twentieth over unbowled.
The chase
Smriti Mandhana did not open. Shafali Verma and Gunalan Kamalini did, and Shafali hit four fours off the first over.
Japan then took two wickets in quick succession. Kamalini holed out to long-on in the second over, and Bharti Fulmali edged to point in the third. India were 24 for two, and 34 short.
Shafali finished it from there. She struck a six off the next ball she faced and closed the match in the fifth over with another over long-on, ending on 40 not out from 15 balls with six fours and two sixes. Richa Ghosh was 12 not out. It was the first Twenty20 international between the two sides.
The shape of the innings
Japan reached the end of the powerplay at 24 without loss, which was the best passage of their day. They were 30 for two at the drinks break after ten overs and needed until the 16.2nd over to bring up 50.
India's entire innings fell inside their own powerplay, and finished on 59 for two after five of the twenty overs.
What the result is worth
Japan are new to this level, and the gap showed in the scoreline rather than in anything the match revealed about India. Their bowlers conceded 59 runs in five overs.
For India the value is the passage. The Asia Cup winners are into the last four without using a full-strength batting order: Mandhana, Kaur and Deepti Sharma did not bat at all, and seven of the eleven were not required.
In the other quarter-final at Nisshin, Sri Lanka made 160 for four and held Malaysia to 74 for seven, winning by 86 runs.
Sources
- ESPNcricinfo — Full scorecard, 18 Sep 2026. Both innings in full: batting, dismissals, extras, fall of wickets and bowling figures; result India by 8 wickets with 90 balls remaining; ground Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin; toss India elected to field; WT20I no. 3021.
- The Indian Express — Sports Desk, updated 18 Sep 2026 1.10pm IST. Ball-by-ball account of both innings: Shafali’s four fours in the first over, the Kamalini and Fulmali dismissals, the six that finished it, Charani’s double-wicket maiden and her 4-2-10-4, the run-out of Hinase Goto, and the semi-final line-up of India v Bangladesh and Pakistan v Sri Lanka on September 20; first T20I meeting between the sides.
| Batting | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haruna Iwasakic Shafali Verma b Shree Charani | 10 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Ayaka Kato-Staffordc Kamalini b Shafali Verma | 25 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 53.19 |
| Mai Yanagida (c)c †Ghosh b Shree Charani | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Erika Odac Patil b Deepti Sharma | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 35.71 |
| Shimako Katoc Kaur b Shafali Verma | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| Akari Nishimura †c Fulmali b Shree Charani | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Hinase Gotorun out (Mandhana/†Ghosh) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Ahilya Chandelrun out (N S Sharma/†Ghosh) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ayumi Fujikawanot out | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| Erika Toguchi-Quinnc Shafali Verma b Shree Charani | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Nonoha Yasumotob Patil | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Extras 7 (lb 2, w 5)
Fall of wickets 1-24 (Haruna Iwasaki, 6.2 ov), 2-24 (Mai Yanagida, 6.3 ov), 3-33 (Erika Oda, 11.6 ov), 4-46 (Ayaka Kato-Stafford, 14.2 ov), 5-51 (Shimako Kato, 16.3 ov), 6-52 (Hinase Goto, 16.4 ov), 7-52 (Ahilya Chandel, 17.2 ov), 8-56 (Akari Nishimura, 18.2 ov), 9-56 (Erika Toguchi-Quinn, 18.4 ov), 10-57 (Nonoha Yasumoto, 19.5 ov)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kranti Gaud | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Nandani Sharma | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Shree Charani | 4 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 2.50 |
| Shreyanka Patil | 3.5 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2.08 |
| Deepti Sharma | 4 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 3.50 |
| Shafali Verma | 4 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 3.25 |
| Batting | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shafali Vermanot out | 40 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 266.66 |
| Gunalan Kamalinic Chandel b Nonoha Yasumoto | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bharti Fulmalic Kato b Kato-Stafford | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Richa Ghosh †not out | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 200.00 |
Extras 1 (w 1)
Did not bat Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Shreyanka Patil, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Kranti Gaud
Fall of wickets 1-17 (Gunalan Kamalini, 1.2 ov), 2-24 (Bharti Fulmali, 2.4 ov)
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahilya Chandel | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17.00 |
| Nonoha Yasumoto | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4.00 |
| Ayaka Kato-Stafford | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 14.00 |
| Shimako Kato | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 20.00 |
