Yastika Bhatia was unfortunate to miss out on a much-deserved hundred by just one run in Women's T20 Challenger Trophy 2022 clash on November 22. However, Yastika was able to break Shafali Verma's record in the tournament just few hours after it was created. Yastika scored 99 runs from just 61 deliveries including 16 fours and one six to help India D post 165/5.
Yastika’s unbeaten 99 is the highest score in the history of Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy. Earlier in the day, Shafali broke her own record with an unbeaten 52-ball 91 for India B against India A. She held the previous record as well. The fiery teenage opener had scored an unbeaten 89 in the 2020 edition of the tournament.
Yastika now holds record for third-fastest fifty in the tournament. The left-handed batter took 31 deliveries to reach her half-century.
On the other hand, Shafali reached her fifty in just 28 deliveries. Yastika did the bulk of the scoring after the wicket of her opening partner Jasia Akhtar. While Jemimah Rodrigues shared a near run-a-ball 26, Yastika took on Pooja Vastrakar-led India C bowlers and in the 85-run second-wicket partnership.
In the last over, Shikha Pandey hit a boundary and ran between the wickets for two runs. Yastika missed out on becoming the tournament's first centurion but her team ended up winning the match by a comfortable margin of 47 runs Renuka Singh took three wickets for 27 runs whereas Sradda Pokharkar was economical with 2/12 in her quota of four overs.
In the other clash of the day, Deepti Sharma’s record-breaking figures of 4/15 helped India B restrict India A for 110. Amanjot Kaur was the top run-scorer with run-a-ball 49. In reply, Shafali took the charge and scored nearly 80 per cent of her team's runs. Shafali hit 11 fours and four sixes in her unbeaten 91 to help India B chase down the total with 35 balls to spare. Apart from Shafali, opener Dhara Gujjar scored eight runs from 11 deliveries whereas Deepti remained unbeaten for 13 runs from 22 deliveries.
