Record! Despite India's exit from the Women's T20 World Cup, Deepti Sharma's script history became the highest ever...

Deepti Sharma of India (Photo: Philip Brown/Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Indian spinner Deepti Sharma etched her name in the record books during India’s must-win Women’s World T20 match against Australia to become the highest wicket-taker in the history of women’s international cricket.Deepti reached the milestone when she dismissed Australian opener Beth Mooney who failed a pull and was caught by Radha Yadav. The wicket took Deepti to 356 international wickets and moved her past former India pacer Jhulan Goswami (355) to top the all-time list. The first six are completed by Australian Ellyse Perry (336), English Katherine Sciver-Brunt (335), Sophie Ecclestone (333) and South African Shabnim Ismail (323).

Most wickets in women’s international cricket

356 – Deepti Sharma (IND)
355 – Jhulan Goswami (IND)
336 – Ellyse Pelly (AUS)
335 – Katherine Sciver-Brunt (ENG)
333 – Sophie Ecclestone (ENG)
323 – Shabnim Ismail (SA)

Earlier, India were 170/4 after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur produced a brilliant unbeaten knock of 56 off just 27 balls. The innings came at a crucial time when India needed a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive after South Africa’s win over Bangladesh.India got off to a steady start with Smriti Mandhana (38) and Shafali Verma (34) adding 66 runs for the opening wicket. However, the scoring rate remained moderate before Shafali was dismissed as he struggled to pick up the pace. Soon after, Mandhana was run out after a mix-up with Jemimah Rodrigues, leaving India under pressure.Jemimah scored 34 off 28 balls but struggled to maintain the pace and was eventually dropped before the final over to make way for big hitter Rich Ghosh.While India’s batting effort looked slightly below par for most of the innings, Harmanpreet changed the momentum of the game in spectacular fashion. The skipper smashed three consecutive sixes off Australian skipper Sophie Molineux in the final over, helping India score 23 runs in the last six balls to finish with a competitive total of 170.In the end, Australia defeated India by six wickets in their crucial Women’s World Cup T20 encounter, knocking the Women in Blue out of the tournament. Chasing 171, Australia reached the target with an over to spare, thanks to a match-winning knock from Ellyse Perry, who was named Player of the Match for her knock of 56 runs. Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur’s explosive half-century helped India post 170/4.