The destructive duo Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma joined an elite list of players, creating a unique record in the T20I format.
The Indian women’s team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is touring Bangladesh for a five-match T20I series. The women in blue were 2-0 up in the T20I series, coming into the 3rd T20I of the series.
The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to field first at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. After being inserted to bat first, the home side Bangladesh posted a total of 117/8 in their quota of overs. Dilara Akter (39 off 27 balls) and skipper Nigar Sultana Joty (28 off 36 balls) were the standout performers with the bat for Bangladesh. Radha Yadav (4-0-22-2), Shreyanka Patil (4-0-24-1), and Deepti Sharma (4-0-18-0) were the standout performers with the ball for India.
1st 🇮🇳 pair to complete 2000 T20I Runs – Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana 🙌 #CricketTwitter #BANvIND pic.twitter.com/Usn1PUoYTu
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 2, 2024
Chasing a target of 118, the Indian opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma took the fizz out of the run chase with a 91-run opening stand. India eventually cruised through to the target with seven wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. En route to their 91-run opening stand, they became the first Indian pair to put together 2,000 runs as a pair in the T20I format.
Only 3 pairs have completed 2000 Runs in the Women's T20I Partnership.
Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates took only 56 innings to complete this milestone. 🫡 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/7rGQKMK1Mn
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 3, 2024
Overall, they became only the 3rd pair after Australia’s Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney (2562 runs) and the destructive duo of Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates from New Zealand.