New Delhi, June 15: The Indian women’s cricket team kicked off the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup with an impressive victory. In a match held at Edgbaston, Birmingham, India defeated Pakistan by 64 runs. Deepti Sharma emerged as the star of the match, claiming 5 wickets for just 10 runs in her 4-over spell.
With this remarkable performance, Deepti has set a new record. She is now the highest wicket-taker in T20 International cricket. Her achievement was marked by the dismissal of Pakistan’s batter Nashra Sandhu. To date, Deepti has taken 166 wickets in 145 T20 matches, surpassing Thailand’s Thipatcha Putthawong, who has 165 wickets from 105 matches.
Deepti also set a record for the best bowling spell by an Indian in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Previously, this record was held by Renuka Thakur, who took 5 wickets for just 15 runs against England in 2023. Additionally, Deepti has become the second bowler in international cricket to reach 350 wickets. Following her 5-wicket haul against Pakistan, she now has a total of 354 international wickets, just behind former Indian bowler Jhulan Goswami, who has 355.
Batting first, the Indian team scored 170 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their 20 overs. Smriti Mandhana played a stellar innings, scoring 68 runs off 44 balls, while captain Harmanpreet Kaur contributed 36 runs. Richa Ghosh also made a significant impact, scoring 34 runs off just 17 balls. In response, Pakistan’s team was bowled out for 106 runs in 17 overs, marking India’s fifth-largest victory in Women’s T20 World Cup history.
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