On This Day: Shafali Verma Becomes Youngest Indian to Score 50, Surpasses Sachin Tendulkar's 30-year-old Record

On this day in 2019, then 15-year-old Shafali Verma became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a half-century in international cricket, her 49-ball 73 in the first T20 International against West Indies, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's 30-year-old record. In that match India cruised to a comfortable victory with 84 runs.

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Playing in only her fifth T20I, Shafali put the West Indies attack to the sword, blasting six fours and four sixes on way to her maiden fifty at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium. She managed to score a fifty at 15 years and 285 days, surpassing Tendulkar's record that stood at 16 years and 214 days.

As far as the match is concerned, the Haryana batsman shared a record opening stand of 143 with Smriti Mandhana, to help her team post a challenging 185 for four. The duo took India past the 100-mark in 10 overs before the Verma fell to Selman in the 16th over. In response to India's total, West Indies were restricted to 101 for nine.

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Meanwhile, during the Women's T20 Challenge, Verma could not perform to the best of her abilities and could score 30 runs in two encounters for Velocity. Her team also did not make it to the finals on the back of some ordinary performances. In the first match she was caught for 17, on the bowling of South Africa's Ayabonga Khaka after hitting her for three consecutive fours. In the second match, she was castled by Jhulan Goswami trying to cut the ball, that eventually hit the off stump.

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