Smriti Mandhana begins England tour with a bang with a historic century at Trent Bridge: 'Absolutely breath-taking'

Stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana began the tour of England with a bang, smashing a 62-ball 112 in the opening game of the five-match T20I series in Nottingham on Saturday, collecting 15 fours and three sixes along the way.

Mandhana not only propelled Team India to a mammoth total of 210/5 after they were invited to bat by the Nat Sciver-Brunt-led hosts, she also became the first Indian and the fifth overall to score a century in all three international formats in the women’s game.

The southpaw had the Indian team staring at an even bigger total – possibly the highest in a women’s T20I involving full members –  after stitching two mammoth partnerships with opening partner Shafali Verma (20) and Harleen Deol (43) worth 77 and 94 respectively.

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India, however, lost wickets in a heap in the death overs after seamer Lauren Bell dismissed Deol in the final delivery of the 16th over. Bell later removed Richa Ghosh (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues (0) in a space of three deliveries to sign off with figures of 3/27 while Mandhana fell to senior spinner Sophie Ecclestone’s bowling in the final over.

Mandhana had earlier brought up her century in style, collecting back-to-back fours in Bell’s third over after collecting a brace to reach the milestone in 51 deliveries – the joint-fourth-fastest in women’s T20Is taking full member teams into account.

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Watch:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 ✨

Smriti Mandhana becomes just the 2nd Indian to score a century in WT20Is 🙌 🔝#SonySportsNetwork #ENGvIND #WomenInBlue pic.twitter.com/AYTaipQCdN

— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) June 28, 2025

It was also her 14th century for India across formats, 11 of which have come in ODIs with a couple of them in Test cricket.

How social media celebrated Mandhana’s incredible feat

Maiden T20I Hundred for Smriti Mandhana! 💯 👌

What a knock from the captain & what a way to bring it up in style 👏

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/iZwkYt7Crg#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @mandhana_smriti pic.twitter.com/Gv2Yar5R4z

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 28, 2025

Who doesn’t love watching Smriti Mandhana Bat 😮‍💨🔥 #ENGvsIND

— Amanda Wellington (@amandajadew) June 28, 2025

Credit where credit's due 👏

A magical knock from Smriti Mandhana to bring up her maiden T20I 💯

Not much our ladies can do to stop her brilliance today — sometimes you just have to applaud the batting. #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/YiMqUaZmmv

— England's Barmy Army 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) June 28, 2025

The story of this Indian innings in a nutshell. How brilliant, @mandhana_smriti #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/3HB3SYZWmd

— Lavanya 🎙️🎥👩🏻‍💻 (@lav_narayanan) June 28, 2025

Smriti Mandhana. Thats it, thats the tweet #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/75Fsrq3IWE

— Erika Morris (@ErikaMorris79) June 28, 2025

A maiden T20I ton for ODI World No. 1 Smriti Mandhana, 11 years into her international career and as many years dedicated to religiously honing her gift. Comes on a day she's standing in as captain in a tour-opener in England. Laced with shot-of-the-day exhibits aplenty. #ENGvIND https://t.co/nWwlL33193 pic.twitter.com/28UAy6bKHd

— Annesha Ghosh (@ghosh_annesha) June 28, 2025

Absolutely breath-taking innings by @mandhana_smriti in a T 20 international against England. Haven’t seen a better innings by an Indian batter, male or female, in a long time. Magical batting especially through the off side. Take a bow ⭐️⭐️⭐️#Smriti

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) June 28, 2025

Only the 2nd hundred by an Indian woman in T20Is 🔥🔥

Harmanpreet Kaur v NZ, 2018 (WC)
Smriti Mandhana v ENG, TODAY#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/jZVSy9RM0b

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) June 28, 2025