Indian Women spin bowler Sneh Rana becomes the only third bowler in Women’s Test cricket history to bag a whopping 8 wickets in an inning. Sneh Rana achieved this massive feat during the first inning of the one-off test against South Africa in Chennai.
Neetu David’s eight for 53 against England in 1995 still stands as the best return for an 8-fer. Following her, Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner stands next best with a return of 8 for 66 against England in 2023.
Sneh Rana becomes only the third and second Indian bowler to achieve this massive feat. Apart from scripting a record in the bowling department, Indian women also achieved some notable records in the batting department.
One such unique record came from Shafali Verma’s bat when she recorded for fastest Test double century in 194 balls bettering Annabel Sutherlands’s 248 balls double ton.
Best Bowling Figures In an Innings in Women’s Test
- 8/53: Neetu David(IND) vs England at Jamshedpur, 1995
- 8/66: Ashleigh Gardner(AUS) vs England at Nottingham, 2023
- 8/77: Sneh Rana(IND) vs South Africa at Chennai, 2024
Through the gates!
Sneh Rana on a roll 🔥🔥
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/4EU1Kp6YTG#TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/DkmSBfEtFQ
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 30, 2024
Speaking of the game, India women won the toss and opted to bat first where their regular opening duo, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma opened the inning.
The duo made an aggressive approach towards the South African women since the beginning of the game. With individual fifties from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali, India scored 130 runs without losing a wicket before lunch interval.
With the impressive knock, Smriti Mandhana becomes the ninth Indian Woman to score 500 Test runs. Laura Wolvaardt and Co. are left clueless against these aggressive batters and seek loopholes to break the partnership.
Milestone 🔓
5⃣0⃣0⃣ runs in Tests & counting! 👏
Well done, Smriti Mandhana! 👍 👍
Follow The Match ▶️ https://t.co/4EU1Kp6YTG #TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @mandhana_smriti | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/LPk5XikGG8
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 28, 2024
Post the lunch break, the Proteas Women were expected to break the long-standing partnership but failed abruptly as the duo continued to dominate the visitors with their aggressive knock.
During the process, Shafali secured her maiden Test century while Mandhana bagged her second Test century. And moreover, Smriti Mandhana surpassed her previous best of 127 which she scored against Australia in 2021.
The duo surpassed the 250 runs mark without losing a wicket and threatened the opponents with their aggressive knocks. Delmi Tucker finally broke the partnership by dismissing Smriti Mandhana for 149 runs while India stands at 292.
After securing her maiden Test double century, Shafali Verma lost his wicket via run-out dismissal for 205 runs. With an impressive contribution from the middle-order batters, India Women declared the inning after scoring 603 runs for 6-wicket loss.
While chasing the mammoth 600-plus runs target, South African women made a struggling start by adding just 33 runs for the first wicket. Sneh Rana made the first breakthrough by dismissing Wolvaardt for 20 runs.
Following her dismissal, the visitors made a 63-run stand for the next wicket. While the partnership started to move into a threatening zone, Sneh Rana strikes back and dismissed Anneke Bosch for 39 runs.
These two wickets were expected to make a collapse in the South African batting lineup but Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp took things in another way. The duo continued to dominate the Indian bowlers and added 93 runs for the next wicket.
While the game was on the verge of slipping away from India, Deepti Sharma dismissed Sune Luus for 65 and pulled India back into the game. Following the breakthrough, Sneh Rana took charge of clearing the South African middle and lower-order batters.
Without much contribution from the South African lower-order batters, the visitors ended up scoring 266 runs after losing all their 10 wickets. Nadine de Klerk’s 39 remained the best score among South Africa’s middle and lower-order batters.
During the process, Sneh Rana becomes the second Indian Woman to bag 8 wickets in an innings of the test match. After containing the visitors for 266, India enforced the follow-on and even bagged a wicket before the lunch break.
At the lunch break of Day 3, South Africa scored 29 runs for a wicket loss while they were trail by 308 runs.
