Women's T20I records tumble as Bahrain thrash Saudi Arabia

Bahrain set new records for the highest team total and highest individual total against a Saudi Arabia side playing in just their third T20I

Women's T20I records tumbled in Oman as Bahrain thrashed Saudi Arabia by 269 runs in the GCC Women's T20 Championship Cup.

Facing a side who made their T20I debut just two days earlier, Bahrain smashed 318 runs for the loss of just one wicket from their 20 overs in Al Amerat to set the highest total ever recorded in a women's T20I.

The record was previously held by Uganda, who posted 314 for 2 against Mali in the Kwibuka Women's T20 in June 2019. Uganda did, however, hold onto the record for the largest margin of victory, defeating Mali by 304 runs compared to Bahrain's 269-run win.

Deepika Rasangika claimed the record for the most runs in an innings, scoring 161 not out off 66 balls – 13 more than Alyssa Healy's 148 not out against Sri Lanka in October 2019.

The former Sri Lanka international's 31 fours in an innings are also, unsurprisingly, a record.

^{Australia's Alyssa Healy previously held the record for the highest individual knock [Hannah Peters/Getty Images]}

Together with opener Tharanga Gajanayake, she produced the highest second-wicket stand in women's T20Is, sharing an unbeaten 255-run partnership.

They beat the previous record, held by Ugandan batters Prosscovia Alako and skipper Rita Musamali, by 28 runs and were just two runs shy of the all-time partnership record set by Indonesia openers Yulia Anggraeni and Kadek Winda Prastini, who batted for 19.4 overs against the Philippines in 2019.

Gajanayake finished unbeaten on 94 from 56 balls, with the remaining 63 runs coming from Rasika Rodrigo (13 off 11) and extras (50). Emaan Ejaz was the only wicket-taker.

In reply, Saudi Arabia posted 49 for 8 from their 20 overs, batting for their full allocation for the first time.

Maira Khan top-scored with nine, eating up 40 deliveries in the process, while Amna Khan finished unbeaten on eight.

Rasangika collected figures of 3 for 9 from her four overs while both Pavithra Shetty (2 for 6) and Gajanayake (1 for 7) conceded fewer than two runs per over. Sachini Jayasinghe (2 for 14) was the other wicket-taker.