That's a wrap for our coverage of the historic Asian Games match between India and Japan. India march on to the semis of the women's cricket tournament, where they will face Bangladesh. That game will be on Sunday, September 20!

Stay tuned to NDTV Sports for all the live and latest Asian Games and sports updates. Goodbye!

India might've registered a dominant win, but Japan gain a priceless experience in their women's cricket journey. They gave India a good fight today right from the start. Ayaka Kato-Stafford and Haruna Iwasaki ensured that Japan did not lose a single wicket in the powerplay. Then, Japan picked up two wickets with the ball as Nonoha Yasumoto and Kato-Stafford took one each. A watershed day in Japanese cricket.

An excellent all-round display from Shafali Verma once again. 2/13 in four overs with the ball, and then a maverick 15-ball 40* with the bat to take India home in style. Six boundaries and two maximums in her knock!

India book their spot in the semi-finals of the women's cricket competition at Asian Games 2026. Much like in the recent Women's Asia Cup, India will take on Bangladesh in the final four.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play in the other semi-final.

VICTORY FOR INDIA! Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh take India to victory in five overs. Shafali Verma with two boundaries to start off the over, then a 4 for Richa Ghosh, and then Shafali returns on strike and finishes off with a 6! India enter the Asian Games semi-finals!

IND 59/2 (5)
IND beat JPN by 8 wickets.

First maximum of the match! Shafali Verma clears the ropes over long-off. The in-form opener has continued her rich form from the Women's Asia Cup to the Asian Games!

IND 31/2 (3)

GONE! A second wicket for Japan! Bharti Fulmali is sent up the order at No. 3, still no Smriti Mandhana. She slams a boundary in the third over, but then throws away her wicket the very next ball. Bharti tries to go inside out, gets caught at cover by Shimako Kato. Ayaka Kato-Stafford picks up the wicket!

IND 24/2 (2.4)

GONE! Historic wicket for Japan! It's their first-ever wicket against a full-member ICC side in women's T20I cricket. It's taken by Nonoha Yasumoto! G Kamalini fails to shine after being sent up the order. She departs for a duck. Looking to go big, she's caught by Ahilya Chandel in the deep.

IND 17/1 (1.2)

Shafali Verma off to a stunning start! She hammers four boundaries in the first over, bowled by Ahilya Chandel! Fantastic start for the women in blue.

IND 17/0 (1)

We are back! And there's a surprise! Smriti Mandhana is not opening for India; it is G Kamalini opening alongside Shafali Verma. A target of 58 to chase. Here we go!

Shree Charani ends with figures of 4/10, which is the joint-best for any women's bowler in the Asian Games, along with Sri Lanka's Inoshi Fernando. It is also the best for an Indian bowler, bettering Pooja Vastrakar's 4/17 from the 2022 edition.

The final wicket falls on the penultimate ball of the 20th over. Shreyanka Patil gets her first wicket, and clean bowls Nonoha Yasumoto. Japan 57 all out. After a resistant start by Japan, where they survived the powerplay, India's spinners took complete control of the game, led by Shree Charani's four-wicket haul.

JPN 57 all out (19.5)
IND Target: 58

Shree Charani runs riot! Two more wickets for the left-arm spinner in her final over. Japan go nine down, as their attempts to play big shots go wrong. Four-wicket haul for Shree Charani; she ends with figures of 4/10!

JPN 57/9 (19)

Two run outs in as many overs. Japan are pushing hard for the second run on multiple occasions, but India's fielding has been very good today, by and large. Hinase Goto departs first ball in the 17th over after Smriti Mandhana's sharp throw in the deep.

In the 18th over, Ahilya Chandel also gets run out. Nandani Sharma the fielder on this occasion.

JPN 55/7 (18)

Second wicket for Shafali Verma! Shimako Kato is caught by surprise by a quicker one from Shafali, and her mistimed pull goes up in the air. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur charges in from mid-off and takes a good diving catch!

JPN 51/5 (16.2)

Japan cross the 50-run mark! The batters run two on the first ball of the 17th over, and get to the half-century in the team total. Massive cheers once again, as there have been throughout the Japan innings.

JPN 51/4 (16.1)

Shafali Verma picks up a wicket! End of Ayaka Kato-Stafford's innings. Excellent resistant knock by the opener, and she departs for 25 off 47, with two boundaries to her name. Kato steps out and tries to go big, but mistimes it. G Kamalini takes the catch.

JPN 46/4 (14.2)

The third boundary for Japan! Second one for Kato-Stafford, who goes up to 25! Deepti bowls a loose delivery down the leg-side, and Kato sweeps it through fine-leg for 4.

JPN 46/3 (14)

Good running between the wickets from the Japanese players, as Shafali bowls her second over. A total of six runs come from the 13th over.

JPN 39/3 (13)

GONE! Third wicket falls for Japan! Deepti Sharma picks up her first wicket. Erika Oda tries to go big, but gets caught at deep mid-wicket. Good take by Shreyanka Patil. India's catching has been excellent today. 

Deepti Sharma becomes the first Indian to pick up wickets in two editions of the Asian Games!

JPN 33/3 (12)

All-rounder Shafali Verma is brought into the attack by Harmanpreet Kaur. The conditions are clearly favouring the spinners, so Harmanpreet goes for the part-time spinner. Two more runs for Japan.

JPN 32/2 (11)

Halfway stage of the Japan innings. While the run-rate is only 3 runs per over, it has still been a respectable effort against one of the best teams in the world. 

JPN 30/2 (10)

Shree Charani bowls yet another maiden over. Excellent comeback by the left-arm spinner, and it is back-to-back maidens for over. The Japan batters clearly struggling to read her deliveries.

Shreyanka Patil has also kept things tight from the other end, but hasn't been able to pick up a wicket.

JPN 27/2 (9)

A testing delivery on the hattrick ball by Shree Charani, but Erika Oda manages to block it. She does not concede a single run, and ends with a two-wicket maiden. After being struck for two boundaries in her first over, Shree Charani has responded in style and shown exactly why she is the No. 1-ranked bowler.

JPN 24/2 (7)

Another one for Shree Charani! Two in two! The delivery turns away from Japan captain Mai Yanagida, and she ends up softly nicking it behind, and a sharp catch by Richa Ghosh! Strong appeal from the wicket-keeper and the umpire raised the finger.

First-ball duck for the Japan skipper.

JPN 24/2 (6.3)

GONE! The opening partnership is broken! Iwasaki looks to go big, but doesn't time it well enough to clear the ropes. Excellent running catch by Shafali Verma at long-on. Shree Charani provides the breakthrough for India.

JPN 24/1 (6.2)

End of the powerplay. Japan have not lost a single wicket! A superb effort by the underdogs, who have survived the first six overs and some of the best bowlers in the world. Excellent resistance by Kato-Stafford and Iwasaki.

JPN 24/0 (6)

Japan slam their first boundary! A thick outside edge of Shree Charani's bowling, and it runs away through third-man for 4. Ayaka Kato-Stafford is the one who hits it.

And now it's Iwasaki's turn! She goes for a slog against Shree Charani, and hammers it over mid-on for 4 more on the final ball! Two boundaries for Japan against the No. 1-ranked bowler in the ICC women's T20I rankings!

JPN 21/0 (5)

Two more runs! Iwasaki takes the aerial route, clears the inner circle, and the batters run two again. Four overs done, and Japan are yet to lose a wicket!

JPN 12/0 (4)

Excellent running between the wickets between Iwasaki and Hano, and they scamper two runs after an overthrow! India wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh appears unhappy after Nandani Sharma failed to back up to the non-striker's end in time.

Looks like Iwasaki has hurt herself while trying to put in the dive. The physios have been called. And she's okay to continue.

JPN 10/0 (3.5)

Two more runs in the third over by Japan. While the runs aren't exactly flowing, it's a respectable start for the underdogs as they haven't yet lost a wicket to India's star pacers. An inside edge behind sees them pick up two.

JPN 6/0 (3)

Kato-Stafford gets off the mark on the second ball of the second over, as Nandani Sharma comes in to bowl. Big cheers from the Japan camp and the people present in the crowd!

Nandani bowls a wide later in the over, but much like the first over, two runs come off the second too.

JPN 4/0 (2)

And Japan are up and running! First runs come off the third ball as Iwasaki slams it through the covers. The batters run two. Those are the only runs that Kranti concedes in the first over.

JPN 2/0 (1)

WE ARE LIVE! The India-Japan game is underway at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin. Kranti Gaud is opening the bowling for India. Haruna Iwasaki and Ayaka Kato-Stafford are opening for Japan. Here we go!

The players have lined up for the national anthems. First, we will have Japan's anthem, followed by India's. We are moments away from the cricket action, stay tuned!

The historic match between India and Japan is about to get underway in less than 10 minutes from now. Remember, it is the first time that both nations are playing against each other in international cricket, across any format or gender.

Japan XI vs India: Haruna Iwasaki, Ayaka Kato-Stafford, Mai Yanagida (c), Erika Oda, Ahilya Chandel, Shimako Kato, Akari Nishimura Kano (wk), Ayumi Fujikawa, Hinase Goto, Erika Toguchi Quinn, Nonoha Yasumoto.

Watch out for 23-year-old left-arm pacer Ahilya Chandel, who had joined Delhi Capitals as a net bowler during WPL 2025!

India XI vs Japan: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Gunalan Kamalini, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Shree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Kranti Gaud, Nandani Sharma.

One change to India's playing XI from the Women's Asia Cup final: Shreyanka Patil is playing in place of Prema Rawat.

Among India's bowling unit, only Deepti Sharma played in Asian Games 2022, where she took one wicket. The likes of Nandani Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani and Shreyanka Patil will have a new test on their hands!

India have won the toss and opted to bowl! Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur calls correctly, and she has put the hosts in to bat! This will be interesting!

India's star openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma will be ones to watch out for. Mandhana and Shafali are 36 and 23 runs away respectively from becoming the highest-ever run-scorers in Asian Games women's cricket history. Jemimah Rodrigues is the closest Indian to the mark, but she is unavailable for the tournament due to injury.

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu currently holds the record. She will also participate in the Asian Games, so expect this record to be fought for till the final!

We are just about 10 minutes away from toss time at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, the venue for the historic India-Japan clash. It will be interesting to see what the toss-winning captain elects to do.

This is also the first time that Japan will play a full-member ICC nation in a women's T20I. They will be led by veteran all-rounder Mai Yanagida, who has played 61 games for the nation!

India are the overwhelming favourites, not only in today's quarter-final against underdogs Japan, but also to win the gold medal outright. Having recently won the Women's Asia Cup 2026, India are the team to beat in the Asian Games too.

Today will mark the first time that India and Japan play each other in international cricket. In no format, across men's and women's cricket, have the two nations faced off in the past. Asian rivals across multiple sports throughout history, and now a new chapter is going to be added!

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Asian Games 2026! We're starting off India's campaign with the women's cricket quarter-final, where Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and co. will face off against host nation Japan! 

A historic match on the cards, stay tuned to NDTV Sports for all the live updates!