Shafali Verma creates history in Bristol

While fans were ecstatic when India announced its playing eleven for the World Test Championship Final, a 17-year-old was busy making headlines elsewhere. Interestingly, the venue is only a two-hour drive from the Ageas Bowl, which will host the World Test Championship Final. There was quite a bit of excitement among the fans when she walked out to bat on Day 2 of the one-off Test against England at Bristol's County Ground. Having seen her big-hitting abilities in the limited-overs format, 

Shafali Verma etched her name in the annals of test cricket history, achieving the highest individual score by an Indian woman cricketer on Test debut. The fact that the teenager accomplished this feat on her Test debut makes it even more remarkable. The record was previously held by Chandrakant Kaur, who scored 75 runs on debut in 1995. Shafali’s 96-run knock included two sixes and 13 boundaries. Despite missing out on a well-deserved century, the cricketing fraternity applauded her efforts. 

Highest individual score by an Indian Women on Test debut 

In reply to England’s first innings score of 396-9, India began on a promising note as two young batting sensations - Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma - displayed an impressive catalogue of strokeplay. While Smriti relied more on sheer timing, Shafali, on the other hand, used brute force to muster runs. The pair put together India’s highest opening partnership in the history of Test cricket, adding a mammoth 167 runs for the first wicket. 

Records that tumbled on Day 2 

• Shafali Verma became the youngest opener to score a half-century on debut in the Women’s Test cricket history.
• The 17-year-old also became the first Indian Women’s player to smash two sixes in an innings. 
• The 167-run partnership for the first wicket between Shefali and Mandhana is the third-highest opening partnership in the history of Women’s Test cricket.