Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma’s Record-Breaking PartnershipSmriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma’s Record-Breaking Partnership After a remarkable first day’s performance in the India vs. South Africa Women’s match at MA Chidambaram, opener Smriti Mandhana shared her thoughts on her historic partnership with Shefali Verma. Exceptional Partnership Mandhana and Verma forged an incredible combination, scoring 292 runs off 312 balls in a record-breaking partnership. Mandhana played a stellar inning, contributing 149 runs with 27 fours and a six, while Verma scored an impressive 205 runs with 23 fours and eight sixes. Missed Century Despite her impressive performance, Mandhana expressed disappointment over her dismissal, which she attributed to a lazy shot off Delmi Tucker’s bowling. She acknowledged Verma’s resilience in reaching both 150 and 200 runs. Pitch Assessment Mandhana commented on the pitch conditions, noting that the ball remained low from the start and only began to spin later. She expressed her confidence in Team India’s ability to assess the wicket and determine a suitable target score. Team Performance Overall, Mandhana praised the team’s collective effort on Day 1, highlighting the valuable contributions of Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Richa Ghosh. She expressed optimism for the team’s performance going forward. Bowlers’ Performance For South Africa, Delmi Tucker proved to be the most effective bowler, claiming two wickets, while Nadine de Klerk took one. The visitors will need to step up their bowling efforts to restrict India’s formidable batting lineup.
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) (India), June 28: After the Day 1 match between India and South Africa Women at the MA Chidambaram on Friday, opener Smriti Mandhana spoke about her partnership with Shefali Verma.
Both batters put on a record-breaking combination of 292 runs in 312 balls before Mandhana was sent back to the pavilion after playing a stellar inning of 149 runs in 161 balls, supplemented by 27 fours and a six in her innings.
Shefali also played a magnificent innings of 205 runs off 197 balls at a strike rate of 104.06. The right-wing batsman hit a total of 23 fours and eight sixes. She was dismissed for a run-out in the 75th over.
The left-hander spoke about her dismissal, with the opener claiming she played a lazy shot to be dismissed off the bowling of Delmi Tucker.
“Very happy. I have always enjoyed batting alongside her (Shafali). We tried to take a single (talking about the events leading up to her dismissal), it was a lazy stroke and I was very happy that Shafali could get to 150 and 200. The coach will always remind me of that (about missing out on converting a hundred into a big one). I know her strength is spin and she knows that pace is something I really like,” Mandhana said after the match on Day 1.
The 27-year-old spoke further about the pitch. The batter stated that the ball stayed low from the start and that it started to spin a little later.
“It always works and we know our strengths well and we’ve been working together for about three years, and both getting into flow is good for both of us and for the team. For day 1 I think 525 is a very good score. I don’t know if this has ever happened in women’s cricket. The wicket stayed low from the start and it turned moments later. We’ll go back to the hotel and discuss what a good score is on this wicket,” left-handed batter added.
Looking back at the first day, ‘Women in Blue’ captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first.
Team India scored 525 runs at the loss of four wickets in 98 overs, batting first. Besides Shefali and Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues (55 runs in 94 balls, 8 fours), Harmanpreet Kaur (42* runs off 76 balls, 2 fours) and Richa Ghosh (43* runs off 33 balls, 9 fours) played valuable knocks for their team .
For the visitors, the choice of bowlers was right-arm off-spinner Delmi Tucker, who broke two wickets in her spell of 26 overs during which she conceded 141 runs. One wicket was bagged by Nadine de Klerk in her 10-over spell in which she conceded 62 runs.
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