IND-W vs SL-W 4th T20I: India's star openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma were at their absolute best on Sunday. Mandhana had scored a brilliant knock of 80 runs off 48 balls, and Varma smashed 79 off 46 balls and stitched a partnership of 162 runs against Sri Lanka, setting the tone for a mammoth target.
This was also the highest-ever partnership in this format, and it was the first time that a partnership of more than 150 runs was made. They broke their own record of 143-run partnership against the West Indies in 2019. Overall, in women's T20Is, it was the highest partnership in a match among two full-member nations.
While batting first, the openers took the bowlers to the cleaners by scoring 61 runs, and after that, their speed also increased. They also got out quickly, and the team management made the right decision to send Richa Ghosh at the No.3 position, who also scored a gritty knock of 40 off 16 balls.
“The conversation with me and Shafali is very simple. We just tell each other to keep watching the ball. And the way she was going at the start, my job was just keep her on the strike. The way she batted was brilliant to watch. Knowing Shafali, she wouldn’t be conscious of not hitting a six after 50. I think she wants to hit every ball for six. But, I mean, she has really matured as a player. Especially post six overs. She keeps talking about how she wants to evolve her game," Mandhana told broadcasters.
“She came in as a child prodigy, but now she’s getting into understanding her game more, understanding the situation more. And, also, she recognises more about which bowlers to hit and which areas to hit. We’ve had a lot of conversations around how she can play in terms of post six overs as well and trying to hit the pockets," she concluded.
Both openers also achieved individual records. Shafali smashed he third fifty and became the third Indian batter to have achieved this milestone in this format, and Mandhana achieved the milestone of scoring 10000 runs in international cricket.