‘A precious treasure’

Young opener Shafali Verma played out of her skin to score a recordbreaking double century which helped India to the highestever singleday total as a plethora of landmarks were rewritten on the opening day of the oneoff Test against South Africa here on FridayShafalirsquos double century 205 scored off just 194 balls and her formidable 292run partnership with Smriti Mandhana 149 set the platform for Indiarsquos massive 525 for 4 on a day when the visitors were sent on a leather hunt by the host battersShafali made her double century in 194 balls to snatch the record of the fastest 200 in womenrsquos cricket from Australiarsquos Annabelle Sutherland who had achieved the feat off 248 deliveries in a Test against South Africa in February Her knock helped India reel off a record end of day scoreThe 20yearold Indian also became only the second Indian woman after the legendary Mithali Raj to hit a double century in Test cricket Mithalirsquos 214 had come off 407 balls during the drawn second Test against England at Taunton in August 2002Shafalirsquos maiden intrsquol tonThis was also the maiden international threedigit score for Shafali across all three formats ldquoItrsquos a special moment for me and I will savour it as a precious treasure for the rest of my life It is my second favourite knock after the U19 T20 World Cup title winrdquo Shafali said in the postday press meetThe hardhitting righthander also highlighted her strong work ethics prior to this series ldquoI couldnrsquot convert the starts I gained in the ODIs v SA in Bangalore Today my plan was to take my time as the ball was moving initially and they were also bowling wellrdquo said ShafaliAlso ReadDoItForDravid trends ahead of final but coach Rahul prioritises team successldquoI was backing my strength and tried to gradually settle down With Godrsquos grace I have managed to get my first 100 and 200 at the same time which is a tribute to my hard work so really happy to contribute to the teamrdquo she addedThe 20yearoldrsquos previous best was 96 against England three years ago and she admitted that there were a few jitters when she was in the 90s ldquoNo one forgets getting dismissed on 96 and I remembered that moment while I was on 96 today All I was thinking was to score those four runs Even when I approached 200 I was trying to back myselfrdquo she statedlsquoSmriti backs me a lotrsquoShe credited Mandhana for helping her maintain the calmness ldquoSmriti di sister always backs me a lot at the crease which helps me because she keeps telling me to play calmly So thanks to her as wellrdquo she mentionedThe SA bowlers especially the spinners struggled on the Chennai pitch with Delmi Tucker being the most successful with a haul of 2 for 141However Shafali felt that the pitch was starting to turn towards the dayrsquos end and backed India spinners to come good ldquoAlthough their spinners lacked turn initially there was some turn in the posttea session Thus hoping for our spinners to come in handy tomorrowrdquo she signed offBrief scoresIndia 5254 S Verma 205 S Mandhana 149 J Rodrigues 55 R Ghosh 43 H Kaur 42 D Tucker 2141 v South Africa194No of balls Shafali took to reach her double ton the fastestever in womenrsquos TestsTwoShafali is only the second Indian woman after Mithali Raj to score 200 in Tests292Shafali and Smriti Mandhanarsquos record opening stand and secondhighest partnership in womenrsquos TestsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever