Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut had 'no idea' that they had created a world record

The opening pair of India’s Women’s cricket team, Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut who created history by recording the highest partnership in a women’s One-Day International (ODI) match had absolutely ‘no idea’ that they had created a world record. Deepti played a stunning 188-run knock off 160 balls, which included 27 boundaries and two sixes while Poonam made 109 off 116 balls, with 11 fours.

Deepti’s 188-run knock is also the second highest individual score in Women’s ODI history. She is now behind the former Australia skipper Belinda Clarke, who had scored an unbeaten 229 against Denmark in 1997. The duo shared a record-breaking 320-run stand, surpassing the previous best 268-run partnership between England openers Caroline Atkins and Sarah Taylor against South Africa in 2008.

As a result, India slammed a mammoth 358 for the loss of just 3 wickets at the end of 50 overs. Eventually, Ireland were bundled out for an embarrassing score of 109 in 40 overs and India wrapped up the game in style. However, both Deepti and Poonam while batting were not aware of the fact that they had eclipsed England Women’s record.

Talking about their feat

“To be honest, I had no idea about the record in women’s ODIs and not even the one by the Sri Lankans,” Poonam Raut told to ESPNcricinfo. “However, because I’ve always looked up to Sachin ever since my initiation into the game, I was aware of the 250-something opening partnership between him and Sourav (Ganguly) as being the highest by India. But even when we were closing in on the 300-run mark, little did we know we had already broken England women’s record (268 by Sarah Taylor and Caroline Atkins),”

“It was only after our post-match recovery session in the pool that we go to know about the records from messages we received on our team’s WhatsApp group,” Raut said.

Talking about the game plan:

They wanted to make the best use of the powerplay overs and that was their only intention when the pair walked out to open the batting for Team India. After the first 15 overs the plan was to rely on the bowlers giving them lose deliveries and to capitalise on them.

“When we walked out to bat, our intent was clear: maximise our returns in the Powerplay and neither be overly cautious nor take unnecessary risks,” Deepti said. “Around 15 overs or so into the partnership, Poonam (di) and I kept reminding each other it’s important we punished the loose balls, and make sure the run rate didn’t drop.”

Once she was in the triple figures the 19-year-old decided to cut loose and went after the bowlers in order to implement their plan.

“After I got to my century, I decided to shift gears and challenged myself to score boundaries even off deliveries that would have otherwise fetched me ones or twos. I wasn’t being ambitious; I was only trying to implement a few plans,” Deepti said

The two have played together from domestic level and that chemistry helped them convert their stand into the highest ever in ODI cricket both Men and Women’s.

“I have played a lot with Deepti since her earliest days in the domestic cricket circuit,” Poonam Raut said. “It’s heartening to see her having bettered her game, in every aspect, in such short space of time. During the partnership, I was particularly observant of the composure with which she constructed her innings. Surely, it belies her age,” added Poonam.