The Indian women’s cricket team achieved a historic feat on Saturday by scoring the highest team total in women’s Test cricket during the second day of the one-off Test against South Africa at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The Indian women declared their first innings after scoring 603 for the loss of 6 wickets, surpassing the previous record of 575 runs set by the Australian women’s team earlier this year, with South Africa being on the receiving end in both matches.
Electing to bat first, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India posted 603/6d. Shafali Verma’s 205 and Smriti Mandhana’s 149 were standout performances.
Shafali Verma made history by scoring the fastest double-hundred in Women’s Tests, reaching the milestone in just 197 balls. The 20-year-old also became the second youngest woman to score a double hundred in Tests, following Mithali Raj, who achieved the feat at age 19.
The opening pair’s epic 292-run partnership in just 52 overs broke the record for the highest opening partnership for India in Women’s Tests and became the second-highest overall.
Half-centuries from Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, and Captain Harmanpreet Kaur helped India cross the 600-run mark for the first time in the history of Women’s cricket.
Watch the historic moment here:
The Highest innings scores in women’s Test cricket:
India W – 603/6d vs South Africa W (2024)
Australia W – 575/9d vs South Africa W (2024)
Australia W – 569/6d vs England W (1998)
Australia W – 525 vs India W (1984)
New Zealand W – 517/8 vs England W (1996)