India chase 58 inside five overs to reach the Asian Games semi-finals in Nisshin

Shafali Verma's unbeaten 40 from 15 balls carried India past Japan inside five overs and into an Asian Games semi-final against Bangladesh on Sunday

India needed 58 to win the fourth and last quarter-final of the women's competition at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, and reached 59 for 2 in five overs for an eight-wicket win with 90 balls to spare.

Japan had been bowled out for 57 in 19.5 overs after Harmanpreet Kaur put them in, leaving the defending champions a target they cleared before the powerplay was out.

Verma had taken two wickets earlier in the afternoon, then made 40 of India's 59 with six fours and two sixes.

A chase over before the powerplay

India lost two wickets in the five overs they needed, one of them inside the second over, but the rate never dropped.

Verma took the pace of the innings entirely into her own hands, and Richa Ghosh joined her for the closing stages as the target came down into single figures.

Her 40 came at better than 260 runs per 100 balls, and India finished the match with three-quarters of their own innings unused.

The win was sealed with a six in the fifth over, the last of the eight boundaries Verma hit in her 15 deliveries.

India used only 30 balls in all, half of them faced by Verma, which leaves a batting order built for a long tournament barely examined two days before a semi-final.

Wickets as well as runs

Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bowl, and the decision needed less than an hour of Japan's innings to justify itself.

Verma's two wickets were a supporting act in an attack that gave Japan nothing at all.

Shree Charani returned 4-10 from her four overs, twice taking two wickets in the same over, and Deepti Sharma was also among the bowlers to strike.

Japan lasted almost the full 20 overs, losing their last wicket with a ball of the innings still unbowled, and never threatened a competitive total.

The hosts held to 57

No Japanese batter passed 25, and the top score took 47 balls to make.

Japan, captained by Mai Yanagida, came into the quarter-final as the lowest-ranked side left in the draw and were playing in front of a home crowd on the outskirts of Nagoya.

The eight-team knockout gave them one match to make the appearance count, and India's spinners took it away from them inside the first hour.

Bangladesh waiting without a ball bowled

Bangladesh reached the semi-finals on 17 September when their quarter-final against China was called off without a ball bowled, and they went through on seeding.

They were seeded alongside India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a straight knockout that runs from 17 to 22 September at the one ground.

Both semi-finals are on 20 September, with the final two days later.

Bangladesh therefore arrive at the semi-final without a completed match in the tournament, and India without a serious examination in theirs.

The gold defence from here

India are defending the title and were the highest-ranked team in the eight-nation field, third in the ICC's T20I team rankings.

Two more wins keep the medal, and in a knockout neither of them can be treated as a rehearsal.

What Nisshin did confirm is that Charani and Verma are both in form at the right end of a short tournament.

Scorecard: Japan Women 57 all out in 19.5 overs; India Women 59 for 2 in 5 overs. India Women won by eight wickets.

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