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The Indian opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana continued to make history as India posted a challenging total for Sri Lanka in the women's Asia Cup final on Sunday.
Shafali posted an explosive 68 in 39 balls, with nine fours and two sixes, reaching the half-century in just 24 balls, while Smriti also made a solid 59 in 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes. Shafali's 24-ball fifty in the fastest in women's Asia Cup history, beating Mandhana's record of 25 balls fifty against Sri Lanka in the 2022 edition. The right-hander now has three fifty-plus scores in the ongoing edition, the joint-most by a player in a single Women's Asia Cup edition, alongside as many for Chamari Athapaththu during Sri Lankas victorious 2024 campaign. She is the leading run-getter in the tournament this year, with 236 runs in five matches and innings at an average of 47.20, with a strike rate of 171.01, with three fifties and a best score of 68. Their opening stand of 129 runs for the first wicket is the highest opening stand in the women's Asia Cup history for any wicket, beating the record held by Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma's 128-run partnership against UAE in the 2022 edition. It is also the highest partnership in a final of any women's T20I tournament, going past the partnership of 120 runs by West Indies stars Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor against Australia in the 2016 Women's T20 World Cup final. Smriti and Shafali have six 100-plus stands in women's T20Is, tying with UAE's Esha Oza and Theertha Satish for most century stands in the format for any wicket. Smriti and Shafali also continued their magical run in women's T20Is. Now, across 105 innings, they have together aggregated 3,909 runs at an average of 38.32 and a run rate of 8.26, with six century stands and 24 half-century stands. No other pair has aggregated 3000-plus runs in the format, and of the 14 pairs to have totalled a minimum of 1,500 runs, none other has gone at above 8 runs per over. Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. After the 129-run opening stand between Smriti and Shafali, Indian batting fell flat, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (14 in 14 balls) and Richa Ghosh (17 in 13 balls) failing to score big. A cameo from Bharti Fulmali (15* in five balls, with a four and a six) took India to 183/5 in 20 overs. Mithali Ayodhya (1/33 in four overs) and Chamari Athapaththu (1/34 in four overs) were the top bowlers for Sri Lanka. India are eyeing a record-breaking eighth women's Asia Cup title. (ANI)
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