Deepti Sharma scripts history as over 42,000 fans in attendance for 2nd WT20I

Listen to Story Over 42,000 fans turned up to watch the 2nd women's T20I between India and Australia at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, January 7 as the two teams battled it out in the middle. The T20 international contest between the two powerhouse teams joined the elite list of matches with incredible attendance at the venue, which has seen packed stands for women's cricket matches in the recent past.

There was a similar turnout for a women's T20I match between India and Australia in November last year at the DY Patil Stadium. The cheers of 'India, India' were reverberating across the stands as fans from all age groups flocked to watch the contest on Sunday. The official attendance for the T20I match read 42, 618.

India entered the contest with an opportunity to seal an unbeatable 3 match series after their resounding win in the first T20I on Friday at the same venue. However, Australia came up with an improved bowling show, restricting the power packed Indian line up to 130 for 8 in 20 overs. Australia won the toss and opted to field in Ellyse Perry's 300th international game.

India lost Shafali Verma as early as the second over, but Smriti Mandhana looked steady in the middle, but India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Jemimah Rodrigues fell for 13 off 9 while captain Harmanpreet Kaur struggled for her 12 ball 6. India were reduced to 54 for 4 in the 11th over, but Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma added 33 runs for the 6th wicket.

Deepti Sharma achieved a historic first as she became the first India cricketer to complete a double of 1000 runs and 100 plus wickets in women's T20Is. Deepti has come under the scanner for her strike rate in the finishing stages of white ball games in the recent past. Despite playing a couple of dot balls, Deepti made sure she hit a crucial 30 to help India post a competitive total.

With the ball, Deepti struck twice inside the first 10 overs as she got the big wickets of captain Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney after the two openers made a good start, not losing their wicket in the powerplay. Notably, in February 2023, during the T20 World Cup group match against West Indies, Sharma claimed her 100th T20I wicket, surpassing her teammate Poonam Yadav's tally of 98 wickets and becoming the first Indian to reach this milestone.

Her achievement is not just limited to the women's game; she now leads India's wickets column in the shortest format across both men's and women's cricket..