LEEDS, England (AP) — Shafali Verma answered doubts again about her Twenty20 production and reliability with a milestone 55 runs in a big India win over the Netherlands at the Women's World Cup on Wednesday.
In their first ever T20 matchup, India posted its highest T20 World Cup total of 209-5 and limited the Dutch to 114 for a win by 95 runs, India's biggest by runs in tournament history.
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Natalia Parvaiz of Pakistan is bowled by Ayabonga Khaka of South Africa during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
Sinalo Jafta of South Africa celebrates running out Rameen Shamim of Pakistan during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
Netherlands' Babette de Leede bats during the Women's T20 World Cup cricket match in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP)
India's Smriti Mandhana bats during the Women's T20 World Cup cricket match between India and the Netherlands in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026.(Nigel French/PA via AP)
India's Shafali Verma, right, celebrates the wicket of Netherlands Sterre Kalis during the Women's T20 World Cup cricket match in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP)
On the same Headingley pitch earlier, Australia also remained unbeaten after restricting Bangladesh to 77-8 and winning by nine wickets in less than 10 overs.
In Birmingham, South Africa beat Pakistan by two wickets to rebound from its loss to Australia.
Injuries also grabbed headlines. Australia's Phoebe Litchfield, who opened the tournament with 50 against South Africa, was out for three games with a quad issue and Ash Gardner missed the Bangladesh win with an ankle sprain.
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt will miss two games after re-injuring her left calf. She retired on 48 against Ireland on Tuesday. And India allrounder Shreyanka Patil had to be carted off after possibly twisting her ankle on Wednesday.
Verma came to the World Cup averaging 23.13 runs this year compared to 52.12 last year when she restored her big-hitting reputation. Then she was out for 6 against Pakistan but raised her first World Cup fifty against the Netherlands.
She happened to be dropped at cover at the same time as reaching 50 off 34 balls, and she was out for 55 including 10 boundaries.
“Happy to be back with some runs. I just practiced hard to get my shots again,” Verma said. “When balls were not coming on I just went for singles so it was a mature innings.”
Her opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana ended at 115 in the 12th over. Mandhana hit four boundaries in a row off Silver Siegers and made back-to-back World Cup fifties off 36 balls. She was out for 74 off 47 in the 16th.
Topping off Verma's day, she became only the third player in a Women's World Cup game to score a fifty and take three wickets after the West Indies' Hayley Matthews and South Africa's Sune Luus.
Verma's off-spin took 3-20 and slow left-armer Shree Charani grabbed 4-19 including three wickets in one over as the Netherlands collapsed from 96-3 to 114 all out in 17.3 overs.
Australia replied to Bangladesh's 77-8 with 78-1 in 9.3 overs. Next for the six-time champion is newcomer the Netherlands on Saturday.
Georgia Voll responded to her duck on World Cup debut against South Africa with an unbeaten 45 off 32 balls including a six back over the bowler's head.
On a seamer's pitch under overcast skies, Kim Garth took the first two Bangladesh wickets in the powerplay including Juairiya Ferdous, who scored 50 against the Netherlands but was pinned on 8.
Also taking two wickets were captain Sophie Molineux and Ellyse Perry, the player of the match.
At 27-5 in the eighth over Bangladesh was at risk of eclipsing its own World Cup record low total of 46. But it passed that mark in the 15th over.
“We have been looking for a few players like power hitters,” captain Nigar Sultana said. ”It's pretty difficult to find batters like that."
Pakistan was reduced to 50-8 in the 11th over and somehow made the game closer than expected.
Marizanne Kapp took out the Pakistan openers in the first over, and three run outs contributed to a woeful batting performance that was saved by captain Fatima Sana and tailender Tuba Hassan.
Sana dropped in the batting order from No. 6 to 8 and scored a 38-ball unbeaten 55, her maiden World Cup fifty. Hassan contributed 23 in their stand of 71. They finished on 126-9.
Annerie Dercksen led South Africa’s chase. She mauled Rameem Shamim for 21 runs in the fifth over and her seventh boundary brought up a 32-ball 50. Dercksen was bowled between the legs by Hassan on 52 at 76-4 in the 11th over.
Nadine de Klerk carried on the fight with 37. She was dropped by Sana then bowled by Sana with South Africa needing one more run. Sana conceded it with a wide and South Africa won at 127-8 with 19 balls remaining.
“I might die like 30 years earlier because of this team,” Dercksen said, “but I'm very proud of this team and the resilience we showed.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Natalia Parvaiz of Pakistan is bowled by Ayabonga Khaka of South Africa during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
Sinalo Jafta of South Africa celebrates running out Rameen Shamim of Pakistan during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
Netherlands' Babette de Leede bats during the Women's T20 World Cup cricket match in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP)
India's Smriti Mandhana bats during the Women's T20 World Cup cricket match between India and the Netherlands in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026.(Nigel French/PA via AP)
India's Shafali Verma, right, celebrates the wicket of Netherlands Sterre Kalis during the Women's T20 World Cup cricket match in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP)
