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India’s young wicketkeeper-batter, Richa Ghosh, delivered an exhilarating and unforgettable performance, pulling off a miraculous rescue act for the team. Her phenomenal knock came during the crucial fixture against South Africa at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
This innings of 94 runs was far more than just a big score; it was a defiant exhibition of power-hitting under extreme pressure. In a span of just 77 deliveries, Ghosh did not just revive India from the brink of collapse but simultaneously shattered multiple world and tournament records. Her maturity and aggressive approach, particularly in the death overs, helped the side reach a fighting total of 251. The 22-year-old’s spectacular efforts have cemented her status as one of the most exciting finishers in modern cricket history.
India’s Richa Ghosh smashes records with a standout 94 against South Africa in Women’s World Cup 2025
A crisis knock and record-setting partnership heroics
Richa walked into the middle at a perilous moment, with the Indian batting line-up teetering at 92/4, and the situation rapidly worsened as the score slipped to a desperate 102/6. The hosts were staring down the barrel of a cheap dismissal, but Richa responded with a majestic, counter-attacking innings that defined courage.
She bludgeoned 94 runs from just 77 balls, showcasing brilliant temperament and timing while hitting 11 boundaries and four massive sixes during her stay. Her primary task was stabilization, which she achieved first by stitching a valuable 51-run partnership for the seventh wicket alongside her partner, Amanjot Kaur.
Following that, the real rescue came as she combined with Sneh Rana to form a heroic 88-run stand, demonstrating their fighting spirit and tenacity in the lower order. This 88-run collaboration for the seventh wicket holds significant statistical weight, as it is now the joint-third-highest partnership for the 8th wicket or below in the history of Women’s ODIs.
Rapid ascent and the 1,000 ODI runs milestone
Richa’s impressive innings against South Africa was significant not just for its rescue quality, but also for its broader implications on her rapidly accelerating international career trajectory. During her knock, she achieved a significant personal milestone by surpassing the 1,000-run mark in Women’s One-Day International cricket when she crossed the 53rd run of her innings. She is now the 12th Indian batter to reach this coveted four-figure milestone, a testament to her consistency since her debut.
However, the most notable record associated with this feat is the speed with which she achieved it, measured by the number of balls faced, confirming her attacking style. Richa officially became the 3rd-fastest player in Women’s ODI history to reach 1,000 runs by balls faced, requiring only 1,010 deliveries for the monumental accomplishment. This pace places her in elite company, surpassing celebrated power-hitters such as Australia‘s (1,011 balls) and Alyssa Healy (1,022 balls) on the list. Only Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner (917 balls) and England‘s Nat Sciver-Brunt (943 balls) remain ahead of her in this exclusive ranking of aggressive run-scorers.
The 94 runs she slammed also marked her 7th half-century in her 46th ODI match, confirming her ability to produce substantial scores when the team needs them most. Her overall statistics now stand at 1,041 runs from 44 innings, maintaining a decent average of 29.74, a figure that continues to climb with every such impactful performance.
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Dominance from a low position and World Cup 2025 history
The placement of Richa’s innings in the batting order amplified its significance, leading to a host of unique position-specific records being broken in the ODI format. Her magnificent 94 runs from the lower-middle order is now the highest individual score by any batter batting at position number eight or below in the entire history of Women’s ODI cricket. This record was previously held by South Africa’s Chloe Tryon, who had scored 74 runs earlier in the same year, demonstrating the magnitude of Ghosh’s new benchmark.
Focusing specifically on the World Cup, Richa became the first player in the 52-year history of the tournament to score more than 80 runs from number seven or below. In doing so, she shattered a long-standing World Cup record that had been held since 1997, highlighting the sheer rarity of such a high score from a tail-end position. Moreover, her innings is the second-highest by a batter in World Cup history from number six or below, trailing only Ashleigh Gardner‘s 115 runs achieved in the same 2025 tournament.
Richa is also the third player, and notably, all three are Indian, in World Cup history to register a fifty from the number eight spot or lower. Finally, she became the fourth-youngest wicket-keeper batter to hit a half-century in the Women’s World Cup, simultaneously holding the distinct record as the first glovesman aged below 23 to score over 90 runs in an innings at the mega-event.
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This article was first published at , a Cricket Times company.
