New Delhi, Sept. 21 -- The Indian women's cricket team has reached the final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after thrashing Bangladesh by 114 runs at Nisshin's Karogi Athletic Park on Sunday. They will now play Sri Lanka in the gold medal match on Tuesday. This will be the second match between the two teams this month, after India beat Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final on September 13. Shafali Verma stole the show as she scored her first T20I ton. The explosive opener remained unbeaten on 100 off 49 balls, with the help of three fours and nine sixes on her way to becoming India's highest six-hitter in women's T20I games. At the start of the match, she was three behind Smriti Mandhana (98), and by the end of the India innings, she stood at 104. On Sunday, Smriti also reached the milestone of 100 sixes. Shafali created another record: that of maximum sixes by an Indian in a T20I innings. She got past Harmanpreet Kaur, who had hit eight sixes against New Zealand at Providence in 2018. India captain Harmanpreet chose to bat on a batting-friendly pitch. Shafali and Smriti looked in their elements right from the outset. However, it was Verma who launched the early assault on the Bangladeshi bowlers. Smriti was eventually dismissed for 37 off 19 balls with five fours and two sixes, off the last ball of the Powerplay with 72 runs on the board. During the course of her innings, she became the highest run-getter in women's T20Is, going past New Zealand all-rounder Suzie Bates' 4,758. Smriti now has 4,788 T20I runs from 171 innings. Gunalan Kamalini struggled during her brief innings of 3 off 10 balls. Harmanpreet struggled too, early into her innings, but once she settled down, she played some lovely shots. Shafali at the other end was just fantastic. She racked up her fifty off just 24 balls. Harmanpreet and Shafali added 94 runs for the third wicket off 55 balls, out of which 33 were scored by the India skipper. Harmanpreet (40) and Richa Ghosh (2) departed in quick succession. Once into the 90s, Shafali became a little cautious. In fact, her last few runs came via singles. Eventually, she reached her century off the last ball of the innings as India posted 195/4. She had Bharti Fulmali a lot to thank for, who took a single off the penultimate delivery to keep Shafali on strike. It was an emotional celebration for Shafali. Soon after the match she posted on Instagram: "Dreamed it. Manifested it. Worked for it. Hitting my first ever T20I hundred meant more than I can put into words. It took a lot of time, patience and belief, but some dreams are worth waiting for. Feeling truly blessed and grateful to finally live this moment. Now, onto the Finals." Bangladesh were never in the chase. Nandani Sharma, who struck off back-to-back deliveries, and Deepti Sharma took three wickets each as the Nigar Sultana-led team was was bowled out for 81 in 15.4 overs. Shree Charani, who had taken 4/10 against Japan, also picked up two. Kranti Gaud and Shryenka Patil were also among the wickets. Earlier in the day, at the same venue, Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the first semi-final. Chasing 178 to win, Chamari Athapaththu scored 83 not out off 50 balls to lead her team to a comfortable 8-wicket win with 13 balls to spare. Brief scores: India 195/4 (Shafali 100*, Harmanpreet 40). Bangladesh 81 in 15.4 ovs (Deepti 3/7, Nandani 3/25). India won by 114 runs....