Deepti Sharma from India (Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)
New Delhi: Indian spinner Deepti Sharma etched her name in the record books during India’s must-win Women’s T20 World Cup match against Australia, becoming the highest-paid player in the history of women’s international cricket.Dipti achieved the feat when she dismissed Australian opener Beth Mooney, who missed a sweep and was caught by Radha Yadav at long-on.
The wicket took Deepti’s tally to 356 international wickets, overtaking former India spinner Jhulan Goswami (355) to the top of the all-time list. Australian Elise Perry (336), England’s Catherine Seaver-Brent (335), Sophie Ecclestone (333), and South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail (323) completed the top six.
Most wickets in women’s international cricket
- 356 – Deepti Sharma (India)
- 355- Jhulan Goswami (India)
- 336- Elise Bailey (Australia)
- 335- Catherine Sciver-Brent (England)
- 333- Sophie Ecclestone (England)
- 323 – Shabnim Ismail (S)
Earlier, India posted 170/4 after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hit a brilliant unbeaten knock of 56 off just 27 balls. The innings came at a crucial time as India needed a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive after South Africa’s win over Bangladesh.India started off solidly, with Smriti Mandhana (38) and Shafali Verma (34) adding 66 runs for the opening wicket. But the scoring rate remained moderate before Chefali was dismissed while trying to accelerate.
Soon after, Mandhana was run out after a mix-up with Jemima Rodriguez, leaving India under pressure.Jemima scored 34 off 28 balls but struggled to maintain the momentum and was eventually retired before the final over to make way for senior batsman Richa Ghosh.While the Indian batting effort looked slightly below par in most of the innings, Harmanpreet changed the momentum of the game in an amazing way. The skipper smashed three successive balls off Australian captain Sophie Molyneux in the final over, helping India score 23 runs in the last six balls and finish with a competitive total of 170.In the end, Australia defeated India by six wickets in the decisive Women’s T20 World Cup match, knocking the Women in Blue out of the tournament. Chasing 171, Australia reached the target by an over, thanks to a match-winning performance from Ellyse Perry, who was named man of the match after 56 runs. Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur’s explosive half-century had helped India to 170/4.