Shafali’s double century, Smriti’s ton puts India in driver’s seat

CHENNAI: The opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma recorded the highest opening wicket partnership in women’s Test cricket history, putting up a commendable 292-run stand in day one of the one-off Test against South Africa here at Chepauk on Friday.

After winning the toss, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur chose to bat, and the opening batters completely dominated the field right from the start. The game was played on a red soil wicket and the South Africa pacers struggled to utilise early swings of the new ball in the opening phase of the game.

Shafali and Smriti surpassed the 241-run opening stand by Pakistan's Sajjida Shah and Kiran Baluch against West Indies in Karachi in 2004. This was also the best ever partnership for any wicket for women's Test for India.

But the glorious stand came to a close when Delmi Tucker’s outside off delivery clipped Smriti’s bat when she tried to punch off the backfoot and went straight to Annerie Derkson in first slip, missing out on scoring 150 by just one run.

Despite losing her batting partner, Shafali continued her impressive batting performance and scored 205 runs off 197 balls, which is now the fastest double century scored in women's Test.

"It's a special moment for me and I will savour it as a precious treasure for the rest of my life. It is my second favourite knock after the U-19 T20 World Cup (title win)," Shafali said in the post-match press conference.

The 20-year-old also became the second Indian after former skipper Mithali Raj to hit a double century in Test cricket after almost 22 long years.

She expressed the joy of scoring her maiden ton in the format that too by scoring a double century. “I was backing my strength and tried to gradually settle down. With God's grace, I got my first 100 and 200 at the same time, which is a tribute to my hard work, so I am really happy to contribute to the team."

Meanwhile, South Africa did not have answers for the Indian batting unit and were sloppy on field by leaking many runs. The pitch did show some signs of turn post-tea session, which will be good news for India as they are playing three spinners.

With Kaur and Richa Gosh still unbeaten, the away team will try to get India all out as early as possible to have some chance of changing the winds back its way.

Brief scores: India 525/4 (Shafali Verma 205, Smriti Mandhana 149, Jemimah Rodrigues 55, Harmanpreet Kaur 42*, Richa Gosh 43*) vs South Africa