Opener Smriti Mandhana powered India to a thumping 8-wicket victory over hosts England in the second T20I on Tuesday at County Ground, Derby.
The left-handed opener cracked 79 runs off 53, helping India gun down 143 in 16.4 overs to level the series 1-1; the third and series-deciding T20I will be played on Thursday at the same venue before the two teams clash in a 3-ODI series.
Chasing 143, India got a blistering start with Mandhana and her opening partner, Shafali Verma, clattering 55 runs in the powerplay. Verma, who scored 20 runs with four boundaries, was dismissed on the last ball of the powerplay by left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, but by then the flying start had ensured that India were in the driver’s seat throughout the chase.
Smriti Mandhana-Shafali Verma are India’s most successful women’s T20I partnership
Now, Mandhana and Verma hold the record of scoring the most runs in partnership among Indian women in T20Is. The pair, which had stormed India in the finals of the 2020 T20 World Cup and this year’s Commonwealth Games, now has scored 1152 runs together, the most among Indian women in the shortest format. They are the only pair to aggregate over 1000 runs in the shortest format for India and are 7th highest in the world.
Most partnership runs by a pair in women’s T20Is:
2250 – Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine (New Zealand)
1627 – Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney (Australia)
1606 – Sarah Taylor and Charlotte Edwards (England)
1517 – Deandra Dottin and Stephanie Taylor (West Indies)
1326 – Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt (England)
1303 – Bismah Mahroof and Javeria Khan (Pakistan)
1152 – Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma (India)
Highest successful partnership for India in women’s T20Is
1152 – Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma
990 – Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj
853 – Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj
Mandhana was rewarded with the Player of the Match award for her 79-run unbeaten innings during which she laced 13 fours. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur remained unbeaten 29 off 22 as she shared a stand of 69 runs with Mandhana.
Bagging the award, the southpaw said: “We were keen to come back stronger and level the series. I was pushing myself and happy that I could contribute to the victory. Good weather to bat (in England), before the CWG games, I think I found the touch back. In T20 cricket, you’d look to try and get a good start to the team. Happy to contribute to the team. It depends on the day and the bowlers, two years back, she (on Shafali Verma) perhaps was just trying to dominate, but she now knows whom to target and to respect good bowling. The good thing is we can both take advantage of the batting powerplay, whoever is in good touch takes the lead in doing so.”
