India’s women break multiple records in astonishing Test match against South Africa

Shafali Verma of India bats during game three of the ODI series between India and South Africa on June 23, 2024 in Bengaluru, India.

So astonishing was the first innings of the Test between India’s women and South Africa’s women that multiple new entries needed to be made into cricket’s record books by the time India had declared on the second day of play.

In posting 603 for six before declaring in Chennai, India scored the highest total in women’s Test cricket and became the first to surpass the 600-mark in first-class cricket, according ESPN’s cricinfo.

The opening day’s 525 for 4 was the most runs scored by any team, men or women, in a day’s play of Test cricket, and the first 500-plus total on day one in women’s Test cricket.

Shafali Verma was the standout performer in an unforgettable start to the one-off encounter, scoring 205 for the fastest double century in women’s Test history. She also became the first woman to hit more than 200 runs in a day in a Test match and, aged 20 years and 152 days, the second-youngest woman to score a Test double-century.

Her partnership of 292 runs with Smriti Mandhana is the highest opening stand in women’s Test cricket. Another partnership, between Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh accumulated 143 runs, the highest fifth-wicket stand in women’s Tests.

“Today, the ball was coming on well and my scores in the last three ODIs pushed me to just think one thing, that I shouldn’t get out and I should play through the day,” Shafali said, per cricinfo.

“So the idea was to back my strengths, take some time, and find a way to stay at the wicket.”

In response, South Africa were still behind India’s mammoth total after posting 266 runs in its first innings and reaching 232/2 in its second innings on day three with play still ongoing.

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