Australia women vs India women match: Shafali Verma entered her name in the history books after achieving a massive feat during the second T20I match between India women and Australia women at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Thursday, February 19. Shafali has completed her 2500 runs, becoming the third Indian batter to reach the milestone.
Apart from Shafali, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur are the other two Indian batters to score 2500 runs in T20I cricket. Shafali played a 29-run knock in 23 balls on the back of five fours. However, India went on to lose the game by 19 runs as they were restricted to 144/9 in their 20 overs. A record opening stand between Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney enabled Australia to level a three-match T20I series.
Voll and Mooney stitched a 128-run partnership, marking Australia’s highest opening stand against India in T20Is, leading to a total of 163 for 5 after being put into bat first. Apart from Shafali, Smriti (31) and the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (36) came up with promising contributions. For Australia, Ashleigh Gardner was the pick of the bowlers, having taken three wickets for 22 runs in her four overs, whereas Kim Garth, Annabel Sutherland, and skipper Sophie Molineux found a couple of scalps each.
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Harmanpreet Kaur also created an incredible record, becoming the most capped international player in women’s cricket. On February 19, in her 356th international match, Kaur surpassed New Zealand legend Suzie Bates to claim the record for the most-capped player in women’s international cricket.
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Following Harmanpreet and Suzie Bates, Ellyse Perry, with 349 international matches for Australia, is third on the list of women cricketers with the most appearances. Former Indian cricketer Mithali Raj played in 333 matches, while Charlotte Edwards represented England in 309 games. Other notable names include Sophie Devine (305 matches, New Zealand), Heather Knight (303 matches, England), and Danni Wyatt-Hodge (302 matches, England).
"We were looking for runs that time, but it happens when you're looking for runs; sometimes you collapse. While batting, we should have taken some more responsibility. Smriti and I, my partnership with Smriti was very important. I think that was a crucial time when we lost Smriti's wicket. That was the turning point. Today was the first time we were batting, and now we know the pitch, and hopefully we'll plan better in the next innings," Indian captain Harmanpreet said after the defeat.