New Delhi: Indian opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma rewrote the 90-year-old history books in women’s cricket with a sensational batting performance in the one-off Test against South Africa in Chennai. Fresh from whitewashing the Protea women in the recently concluded ODI series, the Indian women inflicted more pain on the hapless visitors with another ruthless performance.
The Indian women marked their return to the MA Chidambaram Stadium after 17 years with a performance for the ages. Opting to bat first on a flat deck, Indian women punished the South Africans by making full use of the batting conditions in Chennai. Mandhana and Varma grinded down the Protea bowlers to script a new world record.
Both batters slammed sensational hundreds to stitch India’s highest-ever partnership for any wicket. The duo continued the batting onslaught and registered the best opening partnership in Women’s Test cricket, breaking the 20-year-old world record of the Pakistan women’s cricket team.
Varma and Mandhana surpassed the best partnership record held by Kiran Baluch and Sajjida Shah who combined to add 241 runs for the opening wicket in 2004 in Karachi against West Indies Women.
Mandhana, Shafali rewrite history books
The prolific batters also became the first pair in the 90-year-old women’s Test cricket history to cross the 250-run mark. Their mammoth stand was broken by Delmi Tucker, who dismissed Mandhana for 149 to end the record-breaking 292-run stand.
🚨 Milestone Alert 🚨
2⃣9⃣2⃣
This is now the highest opening partnership ever in women’s Tests 🙌
Smriti Mandhana & Shafali Verma 🫡🫡
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/4EU1Kp7wJe#TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @mandhana_smriti | @TheShafaliVerma pic.twitter.com/XmXbU9V3M6
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 28, 2024
The elegant left-hander, who notched up two tons and a 90+ score in the ODI series against the Proteas, smashed a whopping 27 fours and a six.
Meanwhile, Shafali crossed the 150-run mark and was heading for a glorious double hundred at the time of writing this article
IND W vs SA W: The Indian women marked their return to the MA Chidambaram Stadium after 17 years with a performance for the ages. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
