Walked in to bat in 18th over, Prema Rawat smashes fastest fifty in women's T20 cricket history

India's spin-bowling all-rounder Prema Rawat scripted history on November 2 in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy Elite tournament. Prema completed her half-century from just 14 balls, the fastest in women's T20 history. She achieved the feat for Uttarakhand against Hyderabad at MCA Cricket Stadium, Pune.

Previously, the record for the fastest T20 fifty was 15 balls, held by three batters. England's Marie Kelly was the first to achieve it for Warwickshire in 2022. Another Australian batter, Laura Harris, has reached the fifty-run mark twice in 15 balls. Last year, she did it for Otago and then Surrey earlier this year. In T20Is, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana raced to her fifty from 15 balls against Zimbabwe.

In the match against Hyderabad. Uttarakhand's Prema walked in to bat at no.4 in the 18th over. The stage was set for her to go berserk. Uttarakhand were 129/2 in 17.1 overs. 

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After facing a dot ball, she smashed Sakshi Rao for three consecutive boundaries. In the next over, she got the strike on the second ball. She smashed off-spinner Vanka Pooja for a six, faced a dot ball, smashed another six, ran a couple of runs, and then finished the over with a boundary. 

In the final over, opener Raghvi Bist hit a six off Kunchala Niteesha and then gave the strike to Prema. She took no half-measures and smashed a six. She followed it up with two boundaries. Then, she finished the innings with a maximum to complete her half-century from just 14 balls. 27 runs came off the final over bowled by Niteesha.

Prema's knock was laced with six fours and four sixes. She faced just three dot deliveries in her unbeaten 14-ball 50. She used reverse sweeps to good effect. When they bowled wide to her, she shuffled and used the crease to play her shots. She danced down the track to take the aerial route and cross the boundary.

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Big win for Uttarakhand vs Hyderabad 

Prema helped Uttarakhand post 187/2 on the board. On the other end, skipper Raghvi remained unbeaten for 72 off 50 balls. She hit five fours and four sixes. 

Earlier, Raghvi had shared a 72-run opening partnership with Kareena, who scored 44 runs from 34 balls, including 19 fours. At no. 3, Neelam Bhardwaj could not accelerate and managed to score 19 runs from 22 balls.

In the run chase, Hyderabad got off to a poor start. They kept losing wickets and managed to score 98/8, losing the match by 89 runs. Three batters crossed the 20-run mark in the innings. Opener Gugulothu Kavyasree faced 27 balls and scored 26 runs. Skipper Madiwala Mamatha scored 25 runs from 20 balls. Pooja remained unbeaten on 20 off 28 balls. Kavyasree and Pooja faced 16 dot deliveries each. 

Prema was lethal with the ball as well. She conceded just 12 runs from four overs and claimed two wickets. She bowled a maiden over as well. Nisha Mishra and Safina Aziz took two wickets each too. Prema was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ for her all-round show.

Prema’s T20I and WPL record 

24-year-old Prema has yet to showcase her talent in T20Is or in the Women's Premier League (WPL). She made her WPL debut last year but did not get to bat. In this year's edition, she got to bat once and scored eight runs from four balls. 

Prema made her T20I debut earlier this year against South Africa. She was picked as an injured Shreyanka Patil’s replacement for the T20 World Cup 2026 and remained wicketless. She played in last month's T20I series against Zimbabwe as well. So far, from seven T20Is, she has batted thrice and scored 13 runs.

With the ball, she has taken seven wickets at an average of 18.85. In WPL, she has taken three wickets, averaging 20.33. Her economy rate was 15 runs per over in her debut season. It came down to 5.33 in the second. She has been retained by RCB for WPL 2027. 

Prema to be on South Africa tour 

Prema is yet to receive her maiden ODI call-up. India are set to tour South Africa next month. The tour includes a one-off Test, three ODIs, and as many T20Is. The squads are yet to be announced. Prema is set to be in action in the T20I series, which will be played from December 26 to 30. The squads for the all-format tour are yet to be announced. 

It will be interesting to see if Prema gets a promotion up the order in the T20I series under Smriti Mandhana's captaincy. She is not a big-hitter of the ball but is creative with her strokeplay to find gaps. She also uses her feet well, whether it is going deep into the crease or dancing down the track to meet the pitch of the ball. 

After the South Africa tour, India are set to play the inaugural edition of ICC Women's Champions Trophy 2027, where contributions from lower-order batters will come in handy. 

India Women's tour of South Africa 2026 full schedule