While it was Shafali’s first half-century of the tournament, Smriti Mandhana’s 50 was her 6th overall in the Women’s T20I World Cup which helped her surpass Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj’s record of 5 each.
Published: June 17, 2026, 10:28 PM IST
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Smriti Mandhana at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. (Photo credit: IANS)
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma have well and truly announced themselves in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 with after missing out on the spotlight against Pakistan in their group opener. The duo showed what can happen if they find their rhythm early on. Their partnership also helped in matching the joint highest powerplay score of the tournament.
The Netherlands have been on the receiving end as they saw Smriti and Shafali rack up 115 runs together for the first wicket. Their ferocious saw India race to 59 for no loss in the powerplay. The duo struck at strike rates of more than 140 as they laid the foundation for a 200+ total.
Even Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma might not have known that when they scored 59 without a loss, they equaled India’s previous best powerplay total in the tournament. India were at the same juncture for 59 but down to 3 wickets against Australia in the 2023 T20 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town.
However, unlike that knockout match, the openers kept the wickets column clean this time, providing a solid platform for the middle order.
While it was Shafali’s first half-century of the tournament, Smriti Mandhana’s 50 was her 6th overall in the Women’s T20I World Cup which helped her surpass Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj’s record of 5 each.
Smriti has now taken her run tally to 142 runs in two matches, overtaking Dani Wyatt-Hodge who has 121 runs. India’s other top powerplay scores in the tournament include 54 for two against Bangladesh in 2020 and 51 for no loss against Bangladesh in 2016.
After Smriti and Shafali’s departures, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma added just 19, 20, 12 and 10 runs respectively. Still India worked their way to 209 for 5.
IND Vs NED, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: Playing XIs
India Women Playing XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana (vc), Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Shreyanka Patil, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Nandani Sharma
Netherlands Women Playing XI: Heather Siegers, Phebe Molkenboer, Babette de Leede (c & wk), Sterre Kalis, Robine Rijke, Frederique Overdijk, Iris Zwilling, Myrthe Van Den Raad, Caroline de Lange, Silver Siegers, Isabel van der Woning
