NEW DELHI: Smriti Mandhana scored 80 and Shafali Verma made 79 as India posted their highest Women’s T20I total of 221 for two in the fourth match against Sri Lanka on Sunday.After batting second in each of the first three matches of the five-game series, India were asked to bat first this time. Mandhana and Shafali dominated the Sri Lanka bowlers at the Greenfield International Stadium and set the tone for a big total.
Towards the end of the innings, Richa Ghosh hit an unbeaten 40 off 16 balls, while captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored 16 not out from nine deliveries to take India past 220.Mandhana and Shafali added 162 runs for the opening wicket in 15.2 overs. It is now the highest partnership for any wicket for India in women’s T20Is.This was also the fourth time the pair crossed the 100-run mark together. They went past their previous best stand of 143 against West Indies at Gros Islet in 2019.Mandhana also reached a major milestone, becoming only the fourth batter to complete 10,000 international runs across formats, after Mithali Raj, New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and England’s Charlotte Edwards.Shafali continued her strong run in the series, registering her third successive half-century. She missed out on her first T20I hundred and was dismissed in the 16th over, giving a return catch to Nimasha Meepage. Shafali scored 79 off 46 balls, hitting 12 fours and one six.Both openers relied on placement and timing rather than power, finding gaps regularly and scoring on both sides of the wicket.One of the notable moments came when Shafali stepped down the pitch to hit Kawya Kavindi over her head on the final ball of the fourth over. Earlier in the same over, Mandhana had struck two boundaries.Mandhana, who had a quiet series by her standards until this match, looked comfortable at the crease. Her innings included three sixes, all hit on the leg side, along with several drives.After the dismissals of Mandhana and Shafali, Richa Ghosh took charge. She hit four fours and three sixes and added 53 runs in an unbroken partnership for the third wicket with Harmanpreet Kaur as India crossed the 200-run mark.
