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India’s young opener Shafali Verma has scored her first T20 half-century batting in the middle order. Shafali scored an unbeaten 43-ball 53 for Sydney Sixers against Adelaide Strikes in the ongoing Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2021.
Within two years of her debut, Shafali has established herself as an opener. However, her inconsistent run in the tournament led to Sixers demoting her down the order at no.5 and opening with star all-rounder and skipper Ellyse Perry.
While the 17-year-old has scored two half-centuries in the tournament so far, she has been inconsistent. She has scored 149 runs from eight innings including two ducks. Apart from the half-centuries, she has registered only one double-digit score which led to the demotion.
She did not open in the previous match as well where Ashleigh Gardner scored an unbeaten 86 against Brisbane Heat. But against Strikers, she walked in to bat when her team had lost three wickets inside powerplay overs for 38 runs. Her unbeaten 53-run knock included six fours and one six. She shared a crucial 84-run partnership with Nicole Bolton for the fourth wicket.
The half-century helped Sixers post 142/4 but it went in vain as Strikers chased down the total with eight wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. Her Indian teammate Radha Yadav was unimpressive with the ball as she remained wicketless and conceded 30 runs from four overs.
The only positive from the game was Shafali’s inning in the middle order. The change of order brought back her form as she had scored just 31 runs from previous five appearances. Also, the Indian team management will have the option of playing her in the middle order if she is going through a rough patch at the top.
