Shafali scored an explosive 68 off 39 balls, with nine fours and two sixes, reaching her half-century in just 24 balls, while Smriti also made a solid 59 off 39 balls, with five fours and three sixes. Shafali’s 24-ball fifty is the fastest in Women’s Asia Cup history, beating Mandhana’s record of a 25-ball 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 Chamari Athapaththu’s three such scores during Sri Lanka’s victorious 2024 campaign.
The Indian opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana continued to make history as India posted a challenging total against Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup final on Sunday.
She is the leading run-scorer in the tournament this year, with 236 runs in five matches at an average of 47.20 and a strike rate of 171.01, including three fifties and a best score of 68. Their opening stand of 129 runs for the first wicket is the highest opening partnership in Women’s Asia Cup history, surpassing the record held by Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma’s 128-run stand against the UAE in the 2022 edition. It is also the highest partnership in the final of any women’s T20I tournament, going past the 120-run stand by West Indies stars Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor against Australia in the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup final. After the 129-run opening stand between Smriti and Shafali, the Indian batting line-up faltered, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (14 off 14 balls) and Richa Ghosh (17 off 13 balls) failing to make significant contributions. A cameo from Bharti Fulmali (15* off five balls, including a four and a six) helped India reach 183/5 in 20 overs.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first.
Across 105 innings, they have amassed 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 more than 3,000 runs in the format, and among the 14 pairs to have scored a minimum of 1,500 runs together, no other pair has maintained a scoring rate of over eight runs per over. Smriti and Shafali also continued their remarkable run in women’s T20Is.
