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Deepti Sharma creates history, becomes leading wicket-taker in Women's T20I history; closes in on Jhulan Goswami's feat
Deepti Sharma overtook Australia's Megan Schutt to establish herself as the leading wicket-taker in the WT20I format.
The Indian team’s star all-rounder Deepti Sharma continues to establish herself as one of the best players in the world in both disciplines, and potentially the most valuable player in international cricket. In the fifth and final T20I of the series at home against Sri Lanka, Deepti sent another record tumbling, as she established herself as the leading wicket-taker in Women’s T20I history.
Deepti opened the bowling for India as they won by 15 runs to complete the 5-0 rout; her wicket in Trivandrum was the 152nd of her T20I career, pushing her past the previous record holder, Megan Schutt of Australia.
It took Deepti 133 matches to reach the landmark, and crowned a landmark series in which she became the first player in men’s or women’s T20 internationals to cross 150 wickets and 1000 runs in a career. She also became the first women’s player with 150+ wickets in both ODIs and T20Is.
Jhulan Goswami's international record the next milestone to hit
Deepti is now one wicket away from tying Katherine Sciver-Brunt on 335 international wicket across format, which would leave her in second place with the English player, and behind only record-holder Jhulan Goswami. The Indian legend leads the list with 355 international wickets.
It was a record to cap off a series which saw Smriti Mandhana also join the hallowed halls of women’s players with 10,000+ international runs, and also break her own record for most runs scored in international cricket in a single calendar year.
Overall, it was a thumping series victory for team India, in their first appearance after lifting a maiden World Cup title. In a fine and comprehensive performance, India capped off a series full of strong performances by defending 175 in Trivandrum.
Shafali Verma won player of the series honours after racking up 241 runs, while Deepti finished tied for the most wickets in the series with 5, along with Indiand debutante Vaishnavi Sharma.
The focus for the women’s players will now turn to the latest edition of the Women’s Premier League, a tournament Deepti Sharma enters as the most expensive buy of the tournament. She will try to lead her UP Warriorz team to a first success in the franchise tournament this January.
