Shafali Verma became the first woman to score a hundred in the women’s cricket event at the Asian Games on Sunday, en route to her maiden hundred in white-ball cricket. The Indian opener, who has been in tremendous form from the Asia Cup, reached the milestone on the final delivery of the Indian innings against Bangladesh in the second semifinal in Nisshin.
Having scored a 15-ball unbeaten 40 against Japan in the quarterfinal, Shafali started from where she left in the previous games, and forged a 72-run stand for the opening wicket alongside Smriti Mandhana (37). That partnership set the platform for India after opting to bat first.
Although G Kamalini could manage just three runs in the 10 balls she played, Shafali added another 94 runs for the third wicket with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the other end. While Harmanpreet held onto one end with a 33-ball 40, Shafali took on the Bangladesh attack with no mercy.
Shafali entered her nineties with back-to-back sixes of Nahida Akter in the 17th over before facing some anxious moments as India lost Harmanpreet and Richa Ghosh in quick succession. The right-hander was finally able to reach her first three-figure score in white-ball cricket with a single of Shorna Akter through outside off and it’s chopped wide of cover-point.
