Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma
Indian women’s team defeated Sri Lanka by 82 runs in T20 World Cup 2024. In this match, every move of Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur was absolutely correct. After winning the toss, they decided to bat first, which proved to be right. Batting first, the team scored 172 runs. After this, on the strength of Arundhati Reddy and Asha Shobhana, Team India was successful in restricting Sri Lanka to the score of 90 runs.
Mandhana Shefali’s powerful batting
The foundation of victory for the Indian team was laid by Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Verma with an excellent partnership. These players made a partnership of 98 runs for the first wicket. Mandhana batted strongly and scored a half-century, but she was out at the score of 50 runs. Apart from this, Shefali scored 43 runs. Mandhana and Shefali have made the record of most number of partnerships of fifty plus runs in a calendar year of Women’s T20 International cricket. Both of them have made a partnership of fifty plus runs 7 times in the year 2024. Earlier, in women’s T20I cricket, no pair had been able to make a partnership of fifty plus runs more than 6 times in a calendar year. This is the first time in women’s T20I cricket that a pair has made fifty plus partnerships in a calendar year.
Players with most number of partnerships of fifty plus runs in a calendar year in Women’s T20I:
7 – Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma (India, 2024)
6 – Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine (New Zealand, 2018)
6 – Alyssa Healy, BL Mooney (Australia, 2018)
6 – Tajmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa, 2023)
6 – Kavisha Agodage and Isha Ojha (UAE, 2023)
Harmanpanpreet and Shefali Verma have also made the record of scoring the most runs by a partnership in a calendar year of Women’s T20 International cricket. Both these players scored a total of 825 runs while partnering in T20I in the year 2024. Earlier this world record was in the names of Thailand’s Naruemol Chaiwai and Natthakan Chantham. Both the players of Thailand had scored 723 runs while partnering in T20I in the year 2019. Now India’s Shefali and Smriti have left them behind and created a new record.
Most runs by a partnership in a calendar year in women’s T20I cricket
825 – Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma (India, 2024)
723 – Naruemol Chaiwai, Natthakan Chantham (Thailand, 2019)
708 – Tajmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa, 2023)
680 – Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine (New Zealand, 2018)
