Opener Shafali Verma's scintillating half-century (81 off 47 balls) coupled with Dayalan Hemalatha's 47 powered India to 178/3 against Nepal in the Group A match of the Women's Asia Cup at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here on Tuesday.
India batters Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma have moved up in the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings after their recent performances in the ongoing Women's Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
The Indian team bowled superbly in the initial 10 overs in the five-match T20I series but failed to stop the flow of runs in death overs.
India will play a three-match ODI series beginning June 27 at Bristol, which will be followed by a three-match T20 series beginning at Northampton on July 9.
Sophie said that when she is bowling to Shafali, the only thing going on in her mind is to bowl "my best ball" and "win the battle".
Shafali, who has already hit 11 fours in her second innings, and Deepti have so far added unbeaten 54 for the second wicket.
While Verma is the highest ranked Indian batter at the third spot, Mandhana and Rodrigues have also been able to hold their respective seventh and ninth places
With the country under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Shafali has been working on her fitness as the Haryana Cricket Association has given the girls customised fitness routines.
Shafali went on to become the number 1 T20 batswoman in the world during the course of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
Shafali ended the Women's T20 World Cup 2020 as India's highest run-getter accumulating as many as 163 runs in five matches.
