Shafali Verma's unbeaten 40 off 15 balls and Shree Charani's four-wicket haul helped India to an eight-wicket win over Japan in the women's cricket quarter-final match at the 2026 Asian Games in Nisshin on Friday. The defending champions chased down Japan's 58-run target in five overs to qualify for the semi-final, where they will face Bangladesh on September 20.

Japan, playing in front of their home crowd, showed some positive signs throughout their innings, especially their running between the wickets and fielding. But they were restricted to 57 all out by India's disciplined bowling attack in 19.5 overs to set up a simple run chase for the defending champions.

Shree Charani leads India's bowling attack as Japan struggle

India chose to bat first and made the most of a turn- and bounce-friendly pitch, which proved a stiff test for the Japanese batters.

Shree Charani continued her rich vein of form with yet another four-wicket haul in as many matches, after claiming 4 for 20 in the Women's T20 Asia Cup final. The left-arm spinner struck twice in consecutive deliveries in the seventh over as she dismissed Haruna Iwasaki for 10 before sending Japan captain Mai Yanagida back for a duck, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick.

Japan's opening stand of 24 between Iwasaki and Ayaka Kato-Stafford proved in vain as the hosts failed to get going after the stand was broken.

Kato-Stafford, who top-scored with 25 off 47 deliveries, and Iwasaki (10 off 22) were both caught behind in their respective dismissals as Japan lost their final eight wickets for 33 runs.

Charani finished with 4 for 10 in four overs while Shafali Verma took 2 for 13 and Deepti Sharma 1 for 14.

Shreyanka Patil returned to international cricket after three months' recovery from an ankle ligament injury sustained in the T20 World Cup in June, claiming a wicket and conceding eight runs in 3.5 overs.

Shafali Verma's explosive start seals India's comfortable victory

India's chase got off to a flyer as opener Shafali Verma smashed four boundaries in the first over to put Japan on the back foot right from the start.

G Kamalini, promoted to open in place of Smriti Mandhana, was dismissed by left-arm seamer Nonoha Yasumoto, who also bowled a wicket-maiden with the new ball.

Despite the early wickets, Shafali continued her attacking stance and finished the innings in emphatic fashion, hitting a six over long-on to remain unbeaten on 40 off just 15 deliveries.

Her strike rate of 266.66 saw her hit six fours and two sixes as India reached 59/2 in five overs with 15 overs to spare for an eight-wicket win.

The result keeps India's title defense on track as they look to face Bangladesh in the semi-final on September 20.