Teenage sensation Shafali Verma registered the highest score (96 runs) by an Indian woman cricketer on Test debut in Bristol yesterday.
The 17-year-old opener achieved the feat on day two of their one-off Test against England Women. She shattered the record of Chanderkanta Kaul, who had scored 75 on her Test debut against New Zealand at Nelson in 1995.
Shafali Verma with other opener Smriti Mandhana also put on the highest opening stand for the India women’s team in Test cricket, their 167-run partnership giving the visitors a head start in their pursuit of England Women’s first innings total of 396.
Verma and Mandhana beat Gargi Banerji & Sandhya Agarwal’s 153 against Australia at Mumbai in 1984 for the highest opening stand. This is the second highest opening partnership in women’s Tests away from home. However, from a strong 167 for none, India lost five wickets for the addition of just 16 runs before ending the day at 187 for five. India are still trailing England by 209 runs with Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma (0) at the crease.