Shafali hits twin fifties on Test debut, smashes these records
Indian women's cricket team youngster Shafali Verma led the side's recovery while following on in the one-off Test match against England Women. Shafali, who scored a valiant 96 in the first innings, responded with an unbeaten 55 next. England managed 396/9d in the first innings before India were bowled out for 235. In the second innings, India are 83/1. Here we decode Shafali's records.
Brilliant Shafali scripts this record against England
With her fifty in the second innings, Shafali became the fourth player and the youngest to smash consecutive half-centuries on debut against England in Test cricket.
Youngest Indian across genders to hit twin fifties on debut
Shafali is the second Indian player across genders to score 50+ in both innings on debut and the youngest to do so. She is also the first batter aged under 18 to score 100+ runs in a women's Test match. Shafali is the third Indian women's cricketer to hit twin fifties in Test cricket after Sandhya Agarwal and Gargi Banerjee.
Shafali equals Sachin Tendulkar's record
Notably, Shafali is just one of two players in Test history to have made two scores over 50 in the same match at the age of 17. She has equaled the record of former legend in men's cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.
First India Women cricketer to surpass 150-plus runs on debut
As per ESPNCricinfo, Shafali is just the fifth batter and the first Indian in women's cricket to get past 150 runs in a debut Test match. She is also just the fourth Indian batter across genders to accumulate 150-plus aggregate runs in a debut Test. Notably, she is also the first women's cricketer to get 50-plus scores in both innings after following on.
Key details regarding the one-off Test
India Women are 83/1 at stumps after being asked to follow-on by England skipper Heather Knight. Resuming Day 2 at 187/6, India Women were bowled out for 231. Interestingly, India Women lost 10 wickets for just 64 runs in the first innings. Shafali has taken 68 balls to get to 55*, hitting 11 fours. Deepti Sharma (66-ball 18*) played a supporting role.
