Asian Games Cricket Century That Made History
Asian Games Cricket Century That Made History
In cricket, centuries are common. Batters score them in Tests, in ODIs, in IPL nights watched by millions. But in the Asian Games — one of the oldest and largest multi-sport events in the world — no cricketer had ever scored one. Not once. Not in any edition of the Games.
Until Shafali Verma walked out to bat in Nisshin, Japan, and changed that forever.
The Record Nobody Knew Was Waiting
Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, Japan. Asian Games 2026 semi-final. India versus Bangladesh. Women’s T20 cricket.
Shafali Verma came in to bat and did what she does best — attacked from ball one. By the time she was done, she had scored 100 runs off just 49 deliveries, with nine sixes and three fours lighting up the ground. It was the first century ever scored in Asian Games cricket history.
Let that number sit for a moment: 49 balls. A hundred runs. Nine sixes.
For context, scoring a T20 century in 49 balls is already elite by any standard — domestic, international, or franchise cricket. Doing it on the Asian Games stage, where the format is relatively new and the stakes are different, made it something else entirely. This wasn’t just a personal milestone. It was a first for the entire history of the Games.
And it almost got overshadowed by what was happening at the other end.
Two Records in One Innings
While Shafali was rewriting Asian Games history, Smriti Mandhana was quietly making her own.
Mandhana scored 37 off 18 deliveries — a blistering contribution that would have led the headlines on almost any other day. But buried inside that innings was a milestone that took a moment to register: Mandhana became the first Indian woman to hit 100 sixes in T20 internationals. A landmark that had taken years of consistent, aggressive batting to reach.
Then, in the same match, Shafali surpassed her. By the time Shafali’s innings ended, she had accumulated 104 T20I sixes in her career — overtaking Mandhana’s brand-new record within minutes of it being set.
Two Indian women. Two records. One innings. One ground in Japan.
Harmanpreet Kaur added 40 runs to push India to 195 for 4 in their 20 overs. Bangladesh needed 196 to win. What followed wasn’t a contest — it was a statement.
What Bangladesh Faced
Bangladesh were bowled out for 81 in 15.4 overs.
The margin wasn’t close. It wasn’t even a competitive chase. India won by 114 runs — a scoreline that tells you everything about the gap between the two sides on that day. Bangladesh, who had qualified for the semi-final and had every right to be there, simply had no answer for what India had built.
A target of 196 in T20 cricket requires a near-perfect batting performance. After watching Shafali and Mandhana dismantle their bowling attack, Bangladesh had to chase not just a score but also the psychological weight of what they had just witnessed. That is a different kind of pressure entirely.
The 81 all-out wasn’t a collapse of character. It was the result of facing an Indian side that was, on that day, operating at a level most T20 teams rarely reach.
The Calendar Year That Belongs to Shafali
The century was the headline. But the deeper story is what Shafali Verma has been doing across the entire 2026 calendar year.
She has struck 35 sixes in women’s T20 internationals in 2026 alone — the most by any player in a single calendar year. The previous record was 32, set by Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu in 2024. Shafali didn’t just break it. She broke it with matches still left to play in the year.
Think about what 35 sixes in a calendar year means. That is not a streak. That is not one good tournament. That is sustained, consistent, boundary-clearing power hitting across months of international cricket. It means that in match after match, in pressure situations and comfortable ones alike, Shafali Verma has been choosing to attack — and succeeding.
The Asian Games century was the most visible moment. But the 35 sixes are the evidence of something more durable: a batter who has found a gear that very few players in the history of women’s cricket have ever accessed.
Why the Asian Games Cricket Stage Matters
Here is something worth knowing about cricket’s place in the Asian Games. The sport has not always been a fixture at the Games — its inclusion has been inconsistent across editions, and the format has evolved over time. When cricket does appear, it tends to draw significant attention from the subcontinent, where the sport is not just popular but deeply woven into everyday life.
A century at the Asian Games, then, carries a weight that goes beyond the match. It is a landmark in a competition that spans dozens of sports and dozens of nations, where athletes from swimming, athletics, gymnastics, and combat sports all compete under the same banner. To set a first-ever record in that context is to write your name into a much larger story than a bilateral series or a franchise tournament can offer.
Shafali Verma is now permanently part of that story. The first cricketer — men’s or women’s — to score a century in Asian Games history. That is not a record that will be broken. It can only be matched.
Final Thought
Records in cricket get broken. Strike rates get surpassed. Centuries get scored by the dozen across formats and continents. But Shafali Verma’s 100 off 49 balls at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin is different — because it is a first, not a best. Nobody can take the “first century in Asian Games history” away from her, no matter how many batters come after. And the fact that it arrived in the same innings where Mandhana hit her 100th T20I six — only for Shafali to reach 104 in the same match — tells you this wasn’t luck or a single hot day. The 2026 Asian Games semi-final against Bangladesh was the loudest moment in what has quietly been the most dominant year of Shafali Verma’s career.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who scored the first century in Asian Games cricket history?
Shafali Verma scored the first-ever century in Asian Games cricket history, hitting 100 runs off just 49 deliveries with nine sixes and three fours during India’s semi-final match against Bangladesh at the 2026 Asian Games in Nisshin, Japan.
How many balls did Shafali Verma take to score her Asian Games century?
Shafali Verma scored her historic Asian Games century off just 49 deliveries, including nine sixes and three fours, making it one of the fastest and most explosive T20 centuries on any stage.
Who is the first Indian woman to hit 100 sixes in T20 internationals?
Smriti Mandhana became the first Indian woman to hit 100 sixes in T20 internationals during the same Asian Games match, though Shafali Verma surpassed her in the same innings, finishing with 104 T20I sixes in her career.
Recommended Reading
Explore these hand-picked resources to dive deeper into this topic:
- A History of Cricket by Ramachandra Guha
- The Asian Games: A Complete History by Susan Brownell
- ESPN+ Sports Documentary Subscription
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Sources
- https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/shafali-verma-scripts-asian-games-123500623.html
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/asian-games-2026-womens-t20/shafali-verma-scripts-asian-games-history-becomes-ever-first-cricketer-to-score-century/articleshow/134364781.cms
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sports/asian-games-2026-shafali-verma-rewrites-record-books-with-century-in-semi-final-against-bangladesh/
- https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/cricket/asian-games-2026-shafali-verma-scores-a-hundred-india-beats-bangladesh-by-114-runs-to-reach-final-4153214
🤖 AI Content Disclosure
This article was created using AI-assisted research and writing tools, then reviewed for quality and accuracy. Facts are sourced from publicly available web research, but readers should verify critical information from primary sources.
Published for educational and entertainment purposes. Last reviewed: September 2026