Record partnership between Shafali and Smriti helps India beat SL by 30 runs in 4th WT20I

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana hit stroke-filled half-centuries in a record opening partnership to help India beat Sri Lanka by 30 runs in the fourth women’s T20I and take 4-0 lead in the five-match series, here on Sunday.

Asked to bat first, openers Shafali (79) and Mandhana (80) stitched a record 162 runs to take India to 221 for 2 — their highest in the format — as they sent the Sri Lankan bowlers on a leather-hunt, smashing boundaries almost at will.

This was also Shafali’s third half-century in a row in the series.

Later, India restricted Sri Lanka to 191 for 6 in the visiting team’s 20 overs.

Captain Chamari Athapaththu top-scored for Sri Lanka with a 37-ball 52 while Hasini Perera chipped in with 33.

For India, Arundhati Reddy and Vaishnavi Sharma snapped two wickets each for 42 and 24 runs respectively.

The 162 runs knocked off by Mandhana and Shafali turned out to be the new opening stand record — for that matter for any wicket — for India in the women’s T20Is, bettering the duo’s own 143-run stand in the 84-run win against the West Indies in November 2019 at Gros Islet.

Shafali’s 79 not out came from 46 balls with the help of 12 fours and one sixes while her senior partner Mandhana needed 48 balls for her 80, smashing 11 fours and three sixes.

Brief Scores:

India: 221/2 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 79, Smriti Mandhana 80; Malsha Shehani 1/32, Nimasha Meepage 1/40).

Sri Lanka: 191 for 6 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 52; Vaishnavi Sharma 2/24).