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.

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

Team	Tests	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win percentage
England	8	1	3	4	12.50
Australia	6	2	1	3	33.33
India	3	2		1	66.67
South Africa	1		1		0.00

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

Age	Player	Opposition	Venue	Date of debut
15 years, 241 days	Sharmila Chakraborty	West Indies	Bangalore	October 31, 1976
15 years, 283 days	Rajani Venugopal	New Zealand	Cuttack	March 7, 1985
16 years, 331 days	Rajeshwari Dholakia	West Indies	Lucknow	November 21, 1976
17 years, 104 days	Shubhangi Kulkarni	West Indies	Bangalore	October 31, 1976
17 years, 139 days	Shafali Verma	England	Bristol	June 16, 2021
17 years, 159 days	Neetu David	New Zealand	Nelson	February 7, 1995

 

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

Age	Player	Country	Opposition	Venue	Date of debut
17 years, 139 days	Shafali Verma	India	England	Bristol	June 16, 2021
17 years, 232 days	Holly Ferling	Australia	England	Wormsley	August 11, 2013
18 years, 26 days	Smriti Mandhana	India	England	Wormsley	August 13, 2013
18 years, 187 days	Sophie Ecclestone	England	Australia	Sydney	November 9, 2017
19 years, 298 days	Sarah Coyte	Australia	England	Sydney	January 22, 2011

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

Bowling figures (Overs)	Player	Opposition	Venue	Date	Type	Result
5/48 (11.4)	Shubhangi Kulkarni	West Indies	Bangalore	October 31, 1976	Right-arm leg break	Drawn
4/19 (14.2)	Niranjana Nagarajan	England	Wormsley	August 13, 2014	Right-arm medium	Won
4/51 (30)	Neetu David	New Zealand	Nelson	February 10, 1995	Left-arm slow	Drawn
5/54 (37)	Rajeshwari Gayakwad	South Africa	Mysore	November 18, 2014	Left-arm slow	Won
4/131 (39.2)	Sneh Rana	England	Bristol	June 17, 2021	Right-arm off break	Drawn

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

Runs	Player	Match innings	Opposition	Venue	Date	Batting position
96	Shafali Verma	2	England	Bristol	June 17, 2021	2
80*	Sneh Rana	3	England	Bristol	June 19, 2021	8
75	Chanderkanta Kaul	1	New Zealand	Nelson	February 7, 1995	5
74	Shanta Rangaswamy	2	West Indies	Bangalore	November 1, 1976	5
71	Sandhya Agarwal	1	Australia	Ahmedabad	February 3, 1984	2
69	Shobha Pandit	2	West Indies	Bangalore	November 1, 1976	2

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

Runs	Player	Match innings	Country	Opposition	Venue	Date	Batting position
113	Enid Bakewell	1	England	Australia	Adelaide	December 27, 1968	1
104	Belinda Clarke	1	Australia	India	Sydney	January 26, 1991	2
96	Shafali Verma	2	India	England	Bristol	June 17, 2021	2
84	Denise Emerson	2	Australia	England	Perth	December 14, 1984	2
83	Ruth Buckstein	1	Australia	England	Hove	August 29, 1987	2

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

Total	Team	Opposition	Venue	Month/year	Opening stand	Opening pair	Result
231	India	England	Bristol	June 2021	167	Smriti Mandhana & Shafali Verma	Drawn
285	England	New Zealand	Scarborough	August 2004	163	Charlotte Edwards & Laura Newton	Drawn
314	England	India	Lucknow	January 2002	200	Caroline Atkins & Arran Brindle	Drawn
335	New Zealand	Australia	St Kilda	February 1972	104	Judi Doull & Janice Stead	Won

 

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

Total	Team	Opposition	Venue	Month/year	Opening stand	Opening pair	Result
242/9d	England	Australia	Birmingham	July 1976	116	Enid Bakewell & Lynne Thomas	Drawn
282/9d	New Zealand	England	Christchurch	March 1969	128	Judi Doull & Janice Stead	Lost

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

Scores	Player	Opposition	Venue	Month/year	Result
134 & 83	Sandhya Agarwal	Australia	Mumbai (Wankhede)	February 1984	Drawn
60 & 75	Gargi Banerjee	England	Blackpool	July 1986	Drawn
96 & 63	Shafali Verma	England	Bristol	June 2021	Drawn

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

Runs (Scores)	Player	Country	Opposition	Venue	Month/year	Result
204 (204)	Michelle Goszko	Australia	England	Shenley	June 2001	Won
189 (72 & 117)	Lesley Cooke	England	India	Collingham	June 1986	Drawn
159 (96 & 63)	Shafali Verma	India	England	Bristol	June 2021	Drawn
153 (99 & 54)	Jessica Jonassen	Australia	England	Canterbury	August 2015	Won
150 (113 & 37)	Enid Bakewell	England	Australia	Adelaide	December 1968	Drawn

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

Runs	Wickets	Player	Country	Opposition	Venue	Month/year	Result
72	7/10	Myrtle Maclagan	England	Australia	Brisbane	December 1934	Won
90	4/37 & 6/28	Betty Wilson	Australia	New Zealand	Wellington	March 1948	Won
105*	5/31	Chamani Seneviratna	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Colombo (CCC)	April 1998	Won
80*	4/131	Sneh Rana	India	England	Bristol	June 2021	Drawn

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

Date	Venue	Opposition	Opposition total	India – first innings	India – second innings	Result
February 18-20, 2006	Adelaide	Australia	250	93	153	Australia won by an innings and four runs
June 16-19, 2021	Bristol	England	296/9 declared	231	344/8	Drawn

 

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