India secured a commanding spot in the Women’s Asian Games semifinals following a masterful bowling performance against host nation Japan. After choosing to field first, India relied heavily on their spin attack, which delivered 95 consecutive balls of spin. The quartet combined for figures of 8 for 46, effectively dismantling the Japanese lineup for a total of 57 runs in 19.5 overs.
Left-arm spinner Shree Charani spearheaded the attack with a career-best spell of 4 for 10 across her four overs, a performance highlighted by 20 dot balls. Shafali Verma contributed significantly with the ball by claiming 2 for 13, while Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil each picked up a wicket to keep the pressure on. Japan’s lone resistance came from opener Ayaka Kato-Stafford, who faced 47 deliveries to score 25, while Haruna Iwasaki was the only other batter to reach double figures.
Chasing a target of 58, India wrapped up the victory in just five overs. Shafali Verma spearheaded the aggressive pursuit with an unbeaten 40 off only 15 balls, smashing six fours and two sixes. Although Japan managed brief moments of success through Nonoha Yasumoto, who claimed a wicket-maiden to remove Gunalan Kamalini, and Kato-Stafford’s dismissal of Bharti Fulmali, India’s total was never in jeopardy.
With this win, the defending champions advance to face Bangladesh in the next round. The final scorecard read: Japan 57 all out in 19.5 overs (Ayaka Kato-Stafford 25; Shree Charani 4-10, Shafali Verma 2-13) lost to India 59/2 in 5 overs (Shafali Verma 40*; Nonoha Yasumoto 1-8). The report also notes that japan did have a couple of breakthroughs with the ball.
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