Following Shafali Verma’s remarkable double century on the first day of the only Test between India and South Africa women at MA Chidambaram Stadium, her father, Sanjeev Verma, shared his joy, stating that the family is overjoyed with her performance.
Shafali delivered an extraordinary inning of 205 runs off 197 balls at a strike rate of 104.06, hitting 23 fours and eight sixes. Her innings came to an end in the 75th over due to a run-out.
“We are happy, it has all happened because of the people who supported her and helped her,” expressed Sanjeev Verma.
The 20-year-old achieved the 200-run milestone in just 194 balls, surpassing Sutherland’s previous record of a double century in 248 balls against the Proteas earlier this year. Shafali narrowly missed breaking the highest individual Test score in women’s cricket, held by Pakistan’s Kiran Baluch, who scored 242 against the West Indies in 2004.
With this incredible performance, Shafali became the second Indian woman to score a double century in Test cricket, following former captain Mithali Raj, who scored 214 runs in 407 balls against England at Taunton 22 years ago.
“I always enjoy my range hitting and try and back my strengths. Smriti always tells me to follow my instincts, especially when playing against the spinners,” Shafali commented after the end of the day’s play.
Recapping the first day’s action, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first. Team India scored a formidable 525 runs for the loss of four wickets in 98 overs. Besides Shafali, Smriti Mandhana (149 runs off 161 balls, 27 fours, 1 six), Jemimah Rodrigues (55 runs off 94 balls, 8 fours), Harmanpreet Kaur (42* runs off 76 balls, 2 fours), and Richa Ghosh (43* runs off 33 balls, 9 fours) made significant contributions.
For South Africa, the standout bowler was right-arm off-spinner Delmi Tucker, who took two wickets in her 26 overs, conceding 141 runs. Nadine de Klerk also claimed a wicket in her 10 overs, giving away 62 runs.
