Their first 200-plus total in a T20 World Cup. Shafali Verma's maiden half-century in her fourth T20 World Cup, and a 95-run victory over Netherlands to make it two wins from two games in the ongoing tournament.
Judging by the margins of victories and their top position on the Group A points table, several positives point towards an ideal start to India's World Cup campaign. On Wednesday, Shafali scored 55 off 38 balls, ticking another box in their batting line-up, in which almost all other batters have been getting runs in the last few months.
But in Pakistan and Netherlands, India faced two of the weaker oppositions in their group. Two of their next three games now include perennial finalists South Africa and six-time champions Australia; clashes that will decide India's semi-final fate. And it looks like some of the issues that were with India before the tournament started continue to remain unresolved.
In Netherlands, India were facing World Cup debutants and a side that has hardly played in front of thousands of fans, whose count was 9155 at Headingley on Wednesday. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali put on a century opening stand in under 11 overs but aided by several fielded lapses and wides. Shafali's run of fifty-less innings would have stretched to 16 in T20 World Cups had the catch she offered towards cover been taken in the 11th over, but it was put down. Two overs before that, India had been gifted three wides and a no-ball by Isabel van der Woning, and the last over of the poweprlay saw as many as six wides when Myrthe van der Raad lost her lines completely, even getting a pat on the back by Mandhana at one point for getting a few right. In total, 14 of the 96 runs India had at the halfway mark had come in extras.
India's innings never really veered off track but they were in a bit of a pickle when Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues fell on consecutive deliveries and there were two new batters at the crease for the last 23 balls on a pitch where it "wasn't that easy" to bat according to Harmanpreet Kaur. India were 162 for 3 and looking for the finishing touches to bat Netherlands out of the game. India's wobble could have soon become of three wickets in six balls when Richa Ghosh skied one towards mid-off where Phebe Molkonboer put down a sitter. From 1 off 1, Ghosh went on to smash 19 runs off her next seven balls as she got another life on 16 in the penultimate over.
Ghosh's cameo was the second game in a row that India depended on her for the final flourish, instead of the No. 5 also chipping in to share the responsibility with her. Against Pakistan, it was Bharti Fulmali at No. 5, who lasted just three balls as she was stumped while going for a wild swing. Three days later, India left out Fulmali after just one low score in the tournament and brought in Yastika Bhatia, who lasted just four balls as she too stepped out to be stumped cheaply. Had India not lost three wickets for just six runs in the space of six balls in the death overs, they could have posted a much bigger total that their openers had set the platform for.
"I don't think the overall scoreline in the end reflects the fact that we were competitive in the game," Netherlands head coach Neil Macrae said later about their fightback. "They've got some classy batters who place some beautiful shots. So on a flat wicket, that was hard to contain. But I do think we fought back in the last six or seven overs when the score could at one point have been 230 to 240. So we fought hard and we managed to contain them to an extent.
"We've bowled more extras than we'd like to, and that put their total over 200."
It may sound like nitpicking that India had so much going their way to post over 200 for a massive win and a net-run-rate boost but if the victory is seen in perspective of the game it followed at Headingley, India will realise they were not as ruthless as Australia were against Bangladesh. The way Australia restricted Bangladesh to just 77 for 8, although with more assistance for the bowlers in the morning, seemed a level above India's performance who seemed more desperate to get wickets after Netherlands posted 39 in the powerplay with six boundaries. While Kim Garth put up a masterclass for bowling in the powerplay, India's pace bowlers strayed on the pads or bowled too short a bit too often to leak runs. When Babette de Leede bravely scooped Kranti Gaud and Robine Rijke reverse swept Shafali, India were not quite on top of the game, at least in the first half of the chase.
With a stiff competitor in South Africa looming in their next match on Sunday, India will have to be on top of their game. They will remember better than anyone that the opening loss to New Zealand in the 2024 edition played a massive part in derailing their campaign that ended in them not making the knockouts.
If India want to be world champions in T20s too, they may want to play to their full potential sooner rather than later.