Shafali Verma soars on debut, breaks records

Flamboyant batter Shafali Verma became the youngest to appear in a match in all women’s Tests played in the last 10 years.

Published : Jun 24, 2021 22:46 IST

Indian cricketer Shafali Verma scored two fifties in the one-off Test against England in Bristol.
Indian cricketer Shafali Verma scored two fifties in the one-off Test against England in Bristol.
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Indian cricketer Shafali Verma scored two fifties in the one-off Test against England in Bristol.

9

The number of women’s Test matches played in the last 10 years, with only four countries having had the opportunity of appearing in them. The Bristol Test between the host England and visitor India is the latest to be played in the longest format. This was England’s eighth Test match and India’s third since 2011. India’s only two Tests in the last 10 years before the Bristol game were played in 2014, when the team won both its matches – against England by six wickets at Wormsley on August 13-16 and against South Africa by an innings and 34 runs in Mysore on November 16-19.

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Results summary of women’s Test matches played in the last 10 years

4

The number of Indian players who have made their debut in the women’s Test cricket at a younger age than Shafali Verma did. Incidentally, Verma became the youngest to appear in a match in all women’s Tests played in the last 10 years.

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Youngest players to appear for India in women’s Test matches

 

Teenagers making their debut in women’s Test cricket in the last 10 years

5

The number of Indian women to claim a haul of four wickets or more on Test debut. In England’s first innings in the Bristol Test, right-arm off-break bowler Sneh Rana (4/131) became the latest to do so.

Most wickets in an innings by Indian women on Test debut

96

The number of runs scored by India’s Shafali Verma in the first innings against England in Bristol is the joint 16th-highest score by a debutant in women’s Test cricket but the highest by an Indian woman playing her first Test. Incidentally, Verma become the eighth woman Test cricketer to make a score in the 90s on debut.

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Highest scores on debut by Indian women in Test cricket

Notes:

* Pandit and Rangaswamy’s innings were on the same day. Ramaswamy was also captain.

* Verma and Rana’s performances were in the same Test match but in different match innings.

* Rana’s effort came in the second innings.

* All the matches listed above were drawn.

2

The number of players who have scored a century while opening the batting on debut in women’s Test cricket. Shafali Verma’s 96 in Bristol meant she missed the opportunity of becoming the third to do so.

Highest scores by openers in debut innings in women’s Test cricket

Notes:

* All the matches listed above were drawn.

* It was Buckstein’s only Test match.

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231

India’s first innings score in Bristol is now the lowest total (where the team was all out) in women’s Test cricket after a 100-plus opening-wicket stand.

Lowest team totals in women’s Test cricket after the openers put on a 100-plus stand

 

Lowest team totals for nine wickets declared after the openers put on a 100-plus stand

3

The number of Indian players who have had the distinction of making two 50-plus scores in the same Test match in women’s cricket. Incidentally, Shafali Verma in Bristol became the fourth in all of women’s Test history to achieve this on debut.

Two 50-plus scores in the same Test match for India

5

The number of women who aggregated more than 150-plus runs in their debut Test match.

Highest aggregate runs on debut in women’s Test cricket

Note: Cooke, Verma, Jonassen (all listed above) and Sri Lanka’s Vanessa Bowen (78 & 63) against Pakistan in Colombo in April 1998 (won) are the only four players to register two 50-plus scores in each innings on Test debut.

4

The number of players who have had the distinction of making a 50-plus score and claiming a four-wicket haul in an innings in their debut Test match. Sneh Rana in Bristol became the latest to do so.

Fifty-plus score and four-wicket haul on debut in women’s Test cricket

Notes:

** Seneviratna is the only player in the above list to register a hundred and also take a five-wicket haul. Sadly, it was her only Test match!

** Maclagan’s performance came in the inaugural women’s Test match.

2

The number of times India has been made to follow-on in women’s Test cricket. For the record, India has enforced the follow-on on three occasions – twice against South Africa and once against England, managing to win all three matches.

India women made to follow-on in Tests

 

All records are updated as of the end of the Bristol Test match on June 19, 2021.

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