India women’s cricket opener Shafali Verma set a new record in women’s T20 International cricket after scoring a half-century in the third T20 International against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Tuesday.
Verma completed her half-century in 26 balls at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium. It was her second consecutive half-century in the series and her ninth in women’s T20 Internationals in 2026, taking her past Smriti Mandhana’s record for the most half-centuries by a batter in a calendar year.
Before the match against Zimbabwe, Verma and Mandhana were tied at eight half-centuries each in women’s T20 Internationals during a calendar year. Verma’s latest half-century moved her to the top of the list outright.
Mandhana recorded eight half-centuries in 23 matches in 2024, while former India captain Mithali Raj scored seven half-centuries in 22 matches in 2018.
In 2026, Verma has scored one century and nine half-centuries in 27 matches, accumulating 972 runs. Her performances have also included one century and three half-centuries across her last five women’s T20 International matches.
Verma also set a record for the most sixes in women’s T20 cricket in a calendar year. She hit five sixes against Zimbabwe, taking her tally for 2026 to 52.
With that total, she surpassed India captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s previous record of 51 sixes, set in 2018.
Verma also had an opportunity to become the first player to score 1,000 runs in women’s T20 Internationals in a calendar year. She needed to score at least 78 runs in the match against Zimbabwe to reach the milestone but was dismissed for 69, finishing nine runs short of the target.
Despite missing the milestone, Verma remains the leading run-scorer in women’s T20 Internationals in 2026. South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt is second on the list, with 824 runs in 24 matches this year.
