THIS Indian star overtakes Ellyse Perry, becomes 3rd-highest wicket-taker in women’s cricket
India’s star all-rounder Deepti Sharma delivered a stunning, record-breaking performance in the 3rd T20I against Sri Lanka. Her spell of 3 wickets for 18 runs helped her go past Australian legend Ellyse Perry, making Deepti the third-highest wicket-taker in women’s international cricket.
With this performance in Thiruvananthapuram, Deepti reached 333 international wickets, overtaking Perry, who ended her career with 331 wickets in 271 matches. The only players now ahead of Deepti are England’s Katherine Sciver-Brunt (335 wickets in 275 matches) and India’s bowling icon Jhulan Goswami (355 wickets in 291 matches).
A special T20I milestone
Deepti also made history in T20 cricket. She became the first Indian player – male or female – to take 150 wickets in T20 Internationals. This is a huge achievement, showing her consistency and impact in the shortest format.
She now stands joint-top with Australia’s Megan Schutt as the highest wicket-taker in women’s T20Is, both having 151 wickets. Deepti achieved this in 131 matches, with a brilliant average of 18.73. Her best T20I bowling figures are still 4 for 10, one of the best by an Indian bowler.
Deepti in ODIs and Tests
In One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Deepti continues to shine. She currently has 162 wickets from 121 matches, making her the second-most successful bowler for India in ODIs after Jhulan Goswami. She is also the eighth-highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs overall. Her best ODI bowling performance remains 6 for 20, and she has also taken three 4-wicket hauls and four 5-wicket hauls in her career.
In Test cricket, Deepti has played 5 matches and taken 20 wickets, maintaining an excellent average of 18.10. She has also picked up one 4-wicket haul and one 5-wicket haul in Tests.
A rare and historic double
Adding another massive record to her name, Deepti became the first player in cricket history – men or women – to score 1,000 runs and take 150 wickets in T20 Internationals. Along with her 151 wickets, she has scored 1,100 runs in 131 matches, with an average of 23.40 and a strike rate of 104.26, including two half-centuries.
In the match, India won the toss and chose to bowl first. Sri Lanka struggled to score freely and finished their innings at 112/7 in 20 overs. Only Imesha Dulani (27), Hasini Perera (25), and Kavisha Dilhari (20) managed to score more than 20 runs. India’s Renuka Singh was the standout bowler, taking 4 wickets for 21 runs.
Shafali Verma led the chase with an unbeaten 79 off 42 balls, smashing boundaries at ease. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur added 21 runs, as India won the match by 8 wickets in just 13.2 overs.
Shafali continued her amazing 2025 form, scoring 333 runs in 8 T20Is, at an average of 55.50, with a strike rate of over 173, and this was her second half-century in a row in the series.
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