 "India opener Smriti Mandhana raises her bat after completing her half-century in the ICC Women's World Cup match against Australia in Visakhapatnam. AP")
Smriti Mandhana made history during the high-voltage showdown between India and Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, becoming the first player in the history of women’s cricket to score 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year.
The senior opener needed 18 runs to achieve the milestone and went past that score in the eighth over of the Indian innings, in which she smashed left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux for two fours and a six in a massive 16-run over.
It’s not just the 50-over format in which Mandhana has achieved a first – the milestone of 1,000 runs in a calendar had never been achieved in any format in women’s cricket. Former Australia captain Belinda Clark is the only other batter to have scored 900-plus runs in a year, having scored 970 in 1997.
Mandhana also holds the record for the most runs in a calendar year in women’s T20Is, having scored a whopping 763 runs last year.
Mandhana becomes fastest to 5K ODI runs
That wasn’t the only record broken by Mandhana in the Super Sunday showdown in Visakhapatnam, with the star batter going on to become the quickest as well as youngest batter to 5,000 runs in women’s ODIs.
Mandhana needed 58 runs to achieve the twin-feat ahead of the match, and went past the magical number after smashing seamer Kim Garth for a six over long off in the final delivery of the 21st over, also moving into the 60s in the process.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe 29-year-old opener, who captains Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League, had been going through a rough patch earlier in the ongoing tournament. Mandhana had scored just 54 runs in the first three matches of the ongoing tournament at a strike rate slightly above 70.
The southpaw, however, bounced back in style against Australia on Sunday as she raced to a 46-ball half-century, collecting seven fours and a six along the way.
Mandhana had been in red-hot form against the defending world champions in a three-match series ahead of the World Cup, scoring 300 runs with the help of two centuries – including a 50-ball ton in the series decider in Delhi which happens to be the second-fastest hundred in Women’s ODIs.
And in Sunday’s showdown at Vizag’s ACA-VDCA Stadium, Mandhana appeared to have buried the memories of her failures earlier in the World Cup as she carried on from where she left off against the Aussies.
And in the process, her opening partnership with Pratika Rawal went past the century mark, marking an excellent start for the Women in Blue in their crucial match against the seven-time ODI world champions.