"She's an aggressive batter, we all know that. I think today she just put it down and said she's going to bat."
This was Delmi Tucker, the South Africa offspinner, speaking at the end of a hard day's toil dominated by a double-hundred from Shafali Verma.
Everyone knows Shafali can take bowling attacks apart with brute force. She can go all out from ball one, irrespective of the format. She's capable of showing patience too, as she did during the 2021 Bristol Test against England, but she's not always found the perfect balance.
During WPL 2024, she had spoken about looking to temper her hitting and bat long.
In that Bristol Test, she ended up skying one on 96 while trying to get to her hundred with a big hit. In the second ODI against South Africa last week, she had looked settled until she went for a heave across the line and was out for 20.
But that wasn't going to happen on Friday in Chennai.
****
South Africa probably wouldn't have expected India to break numerous batting records on the day, after how their first few overs went. Even if there wasn't a lot of help from the conditions, their fast bowlers found some early swing, and kept India to 15 for no loss in their first eight overs. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali began circumspectly, despite South Africa's new-ball bowlers often bowling full and outside off, inviting them to drive.
If the pitch used during the first men's Test between India and England here in 2021 - the last Test played on red soil at Chepauk, as this one was - was anything to go by, batting on the first day wasn't going to be difficult. The last six men's Tests at this venue had produced 300-plus first-innings totals, with 450 being passed three times.
You wondered how difficult it must have been for Shafali to curb her instincts, and ignore the temptation to drive. She resieted the temptation for her first half an hour at the crease.
Then, in the seventh over, Masabata Klaas had just got her to play and miss at one that had shaped away outside off stump, luring her to drive. But the next ball was pitched right up and Shafali got on the front foot, timing her drive perfectly through extra-cover. It was her first boundary of the day.
South Africa made their first bowling change in the ninth over, bringing on Nadine de Klerk. She began with a pitched-up delivery angling across Mandhana, and this one was too tempting to leave. Out came the classic cover drive, which she plays with absolute finesse. A punch off the backfoot brought her another boundary in the same over.
All those off-side boundaries seemed to rattle de Klerk and Tumi Sekhukhune, who began bowling a lot straighter and sending down full-tosses: five in the six overs they bowled in tandem until the 14th over, all while bowling with a packed off-side field.
The runs began to flow, particularly for Mandhana, who began peppering the boundary off both front and back foot, punching, pulling and cutting.
It took until the 15th over for Shafali to fully break free. Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba repeatedly tossed the ball up at her, and Shafali looked like she was in the mood to keep resisting. Off the fifth ball, she finally went for it, hitting against the turn, launching the ball over mid-on for her first big hit of the day.
"Today, the ball was coming on well and my scores in the last three ODIs pushed me to just think one thing, that I shouldn't get out and I should play through the day," Shafali said after the day's play. "So the idea was to back my strengths, take some time, and find a way to stay at the wicket."
The partnership began to flourish, and Shafali joined in on the fun, if in a calculated way, waiting for loose balls, being a little more selective than even Mandhana was. When Mlaba landed one short in the 17th over, Shafali rocked back and pulled it to the midwicket boundary. Then she clipped a full one from de Klerk in the air, through square-leg.
As her innings progressed she unveiled the nonchalant lofts, the ferocious pulls and even the slog-sweeps. In the 37th over, Shafali overtook Mandhana, going to 89 with her 15th boundary of her innings. Mandhana, at that point, had hit 17 in her 88.
A clean hit over long-on, off Tucker, took Shafali to 96, a score with a bit of history to it.
"Who forgets getting out for 96?" she asked at her press conference. "When I was on 96 today, it took me back to Bristol 2021. All I thought was to somehow score those four runs and get past 100."
And she did, in the next over, in style, finding the fine-leg boundary off Mlaba with a flick, her most productive shot of the day. A sigh of relief and a big smile followed as she hugged Mandhana to celebrate the hard-earned century, Shafali's first in Test cricket.
From this point on, Shafali batted with even greater freedom, hitting Sekhukhune, Tucker and de Klerk for the third, fourth and fifth sixes of her innings. There was no slowing down even after Mandhana was out for 146, with the openers having put on 292 in 52 overs.
In the two-hour session between lunch and tea, India scored 204 in just 32 overs. Shafali took just 36 balls to go from 150 to 200, smacking three fours and three sixes in that period. Two of the sixes came off consecutive balls from Tucker, both hammered over her favourite long-on region.
Those shots took her from 187 to 199.
"Around my double century, thank god, the offie [Tucker] came on," Shafali said. "Aur maza hai, [Even more fun] as I thought I could get my 200 in a few balls."
Classic Shafali.
A single through the covers off the next ball brought out all her emotions. She had more than made up for missing out in Bristol, and she pumped her fist in the air before acknowledging the Chennai crowd who rose to their feet. They had been thoroughly entertained.