India opener Shafali Verma broke Sachin Tendulkar’s longstanding record to become the youngest Indian to notch up an international fifty on Sunday.
Shafali achieved the feat during the first T20I against West Indies with her knock of 73 runs, in which she smashed six boundaries and four sixes. Shafali smashed 73 runs in 49 balls to register her maiden fifty in T20Is and was adjudged as the player of the match.
Shafali along with her partner Smriti Mandhana hammered scintillating half-centuries as the Indian women’s team notched up a comfortable 84-run win over hosts West Indies in the first T20I here.
The 15-year-old Shafali and Mandhana shared a record 143-run opening partnership as India posted 185 for 4 in their stipulated 20 overs at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium here.
The duo recorded the highest partnership for any wicket by an Indian pair in T20Is, bettering the 130 amassed by Thirush Kamini and Punam Raut against Bangladesh in 2013.
For the hosts, Selman and Anisa Mohammad snared two wickets each, while Hayley Mathews conceded 39 runs from her four overs and Chinelle Henry bled 26 from the only over she bowled.
Chasing 186 to win, West Indies struggled to stitch partnerships with Shermaine Campbelle top-scoring with a 34-ball 33.
The lower-order then crumbled under pressure as India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
"We definitely don't want to remember tonight," West Indies' stand-in captain Mohammed said after the game. "Our fielding - we need to sharpen up. We can't restrict a team to a low total if we are going to field like that. And, our batters, they needed to be there at the end, and not expect bowlers to chase 12-13 runs an over."
(Source: India Today)
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