Deepti Sharma accomplishes this WODI milestone with 72 vs Australia
What's the story
Chasing an improbable 413 in the third and final Women's ODI against Australia, India batted well but fell short by 43 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday. While Smriti Mandhana's blistering 125 off just 63 balls headlined the Indian innings, Deepti Sharma also played a solid 72-run knock. She also went past 2,500 runs in WODI cricket during her stay. Here are her stats.
Chase
A valiant hand from Deepti
India were well placed at 206/3 when Deepti arrived to bat. However, a sudden collapse had reduced the hosts to 289/7. Deepti just did not hold her end, but also garnered runs at a rapid pace. She also added 65 runs with Sneh Rana (35) for the eighth wicket before falling to Tahlia McGrath. The all-rounder departed for 72 runs from 58 balls. She hit 5 fours and 2 sixes as India were folded for 369.
Tally
2,500 WODI runs for Deepti
With her latest knock, Deepti has now raced to 2,524 runs from 112 matches at an average of 37.67 and a strike rate of 69.35. This was her 15th WODI fifty as she also boasts a hundred in the format, as per ESPNcricinfo. Notably, Deepti was the first Indian to breach the 150-run mark in a WODI match. Her 188 off 160 balls against Ireland in 2017 continues to be the highest-individual score by an Indian batter in WODIs.
Bowling stats
140 wickets with the ball
With her off-spin bowling, Deepti has taken 140 WODI wickets at an average of 28.41. Her economy rate is a stunning 4.28. Deepti has two four-fers besides three fifers in the format. She is now only behind Jhulan Goswami (155) and Neetu David (141) in terms of WODI wickets for India. Notably, no other Indian has more than two fifers in the WODI format.
Milestones
Here are other milestones
Deepti owns two six-wicket hauls in WODIs - 6/20 vs Sri Lanka in 2016 & 6/31 versus West Indies last year. South Africa's Sune Luus is the other bowler with multiple six-fers in the format (2). Meanwhile, Deepti's 6/20 are the second-best bowling figures for an Indian in WODIs, only behind Mamatha Maben's 6/10 versus Sri Lanka in 2004.
Elite list
Deepti enters this list
According to ESPNcricinfo, Deepti became just the fifth all-rounder to accomplish the WODI double of 2,500 runs and 140 wickets. The other players on this elite list are South Africa's Marizanne Kapp, Australia's Ellyse Perry, West Indies's Stafanie Taylor, and Australia's Lisa Sthalekar. Meanwhile, no other Indian in the 2,500-run club even owns 40 wickets in WODI cricket.