Mandhana made 124 of India’s 193, and the middle order still has not batted
Smriti Mandhana’s 124 off 64 balls in Dubai was the highest T20I score by an India woman and moved her past Mithali Raj as the leading run scorer in women’s international cricket. Hong Kong were bowled out for 56.
Sep 4, 2026
Hong Kong won the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, September 3, and put India in. Sixty-four balls of Smriti Mandhana later, the decision looked like the worst one anybody made all evening.
124 off 64, and a night of records
Mandhana hit 14 fours and seven sixes on her way to 124, the highest score an India woman has made in a T20I. The previous best was her own, 112 against England at Nottingham in June 2025. She reached fifty off 40 balls and then needed only 17 more to get to three figures, bringing up the hundred off 57.
It is also the biggest individual score in the history of the women’s T20 Asia Cup, past Chamari Athapaththu’s unbeaten 119 against Malaysia in 2024. And it took Mandhana past two career markers on the same night: 10,880 international runs, which moves her ahead of Mithali Raj’s 10,868 as the leading run scorer in women’s international cricket, and an 18th international hundred, more than any other woman has made.
She was run out three balls from the end with India on 190. Marina Lamplough finished with 2 for 46 and was the only Hong Kong bowler to take more than one wicket.
The middle order is still waiting
India’s problem going into this match was that nobody past the openers had spent any time batting. Against Thailand on August 30 they lost seven wickets for 46 runs. On Thursday they did not lose wickets so much as run out of overs.
Shafali Verma made 28 off 17 in an opening stand of 74. Pratika Rawal got 10 from 12 balls, Richa Ghosh 11 from 13, and Harmanpreet Kaur 10 from nine before she was caught off Lamplough. Bharti Fulmali faced four balls and Deepti Sharma one. Between them the middle order has now had a little over five overs of batting across two games, and India play Pakistan on Saturday.
That is not a criticism of a 193 total. It is the shape of the tournament so far. India have won by 94 and 137 without ever needing anyone other than Mandhana and Shafali to construct an innings, and the first time they are asked to do it, it will probably be in a knockout.
Hong Kong lasted 16.2 overs
The chase was over as a contest inside two overs. Mariko Hill was bowled by Nandani Sharma for a duck in the second, and Hong Kong were 31 for 3 at the drinks break. Captain Natasha Miles top scored with 15 from 27 balls. Lamplough made 14 before Shree Charani had her caught.
Five India bowlers took wickets and none of them went for more than five an over. Deepti Sharma took 3 for 9, Prema Rawat 2 for 12, Nandani Sharma 2 for 6, and Shree Charani 2 for 16. Kranti Gaud bowled three overs, one of them a maiden, and conceded five runs. Hong Kong were all out for 56.
India are through, and Saturday is next
Two wins put India on four points at the top of Group A with a net run rate of 5.775, and the arithmetic has already done its work. Thailand have finished their group games on two points. Hong Kong have none from two and can reach a maximum of two. Neither can catch India, so India are into the semi-finals with a game still to play.
That game is Pakistan, in Dubai on Saturday, and it decides who tops the group rather than who goes home. Pakistan have played once, beating Thailand by 35 runs on September 1, and face Hong Kong on Monday. India have won six of their seven Asia Cup T20Is against Pakistan, the exception a 13-run defeat in 2022.