IND W vs SL W 2025: Shafali Verma betters Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj to set unique Indian record

Shafali Verma might not have earned the Player of the Match award for her unbeaten 42-ball 79-run knock against Sri Lanka Women in the third T20I of the five-match series, but she ended up topping a unique chart.

Shafali was instrumental in leading the hosts to a comfortable victory in Thiruvananthapuram on December 26. En route that, she eclipsed the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj to become the first in the list of scoring the highest percentage of runs in a completed innings for India in Women’s T20Is. As many as 79 of the 115 that the team scored came off the top-order batter’s willow.

Highest percentage of runs in a completed inns for India in Women’s T20Is:

Shafali’s aggressive knock comprised 11 fours and three sixes. She was coming off a similar innings in the second T20I, where the 21-year-old scored an unbeaten 69-run knock off just 34 balls to take India over the line.

Coming to the third T20I, Renuka Singh was awarded the Player of the Match award for her brilliant figures of 4-1-21-4. Four of the Lankans’ top five were dismissed by the medium pacer. Her strikes meant that the tourists could never gain momentum in their innings.

Deepti Sharma was also impressive, as the off-spinning all-rounder conceded just 18 runs in her four overs and picked three wickets. Although Vaishnavi Sharma did not get a wicket, even she was economical, as the left-arm spinner gave away only 14 runs in three overs.

India have already won the series. The fourth (December 28) and fifth match (December 30) will be held at the same venue, the Greenfield International Stadium. The Lankans will aim to put up a better show in the remainder of the series.