Another Indian tops the list in the 10,000-run club.
After failing to make a mark in the first three matches of the series against Sri Lanka, Smriti Mandhana bounced back in style, playing a brilliant 80-run innings. With this performance, she became the fourth batter in women’s international cricket to reach the 10,000-run milestone.
On Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram, Mandhana opened the innings in the fourth T20I of the series and produced a splendid knock off 48 balls, hitting 11 fours and three sixes.
She became the second Indian and fourth overall woman to join the 10,000-run club, and she achieved it in the fastest number of innings. Across all formats, Mandhana reached this landmark in 281 innings.
Trailing her on the list is former India batter Mithali Raj, who amassed 10,868 runs, holding the previous record for the fastest to 10,000 with 291 innings. Next on the list are New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (10,652 runs) and England’s Charlotte Edwards (10,273 runs). Edwards took 308 innings and Bates 314 innings to reach the milestone.
Before stepping onto the field that day, Mandhana was just 27 runs shy of the landmark. She reached the coveted milestone by taking a single off left-arm spinner Nimasha Mpage’s delivery to long-on.
It has been a phenomenal year for India’s vice-captain. Earlier this year, she helped India win their first-ever ODI World Cup, and during that tournament, she became the first female cricketer to score 1,000 runs in a single calendar year in ODIs on home soil.
Mandhana is finishing the year as the leading run-scorer in the 50-over format with 1,362 runs, ahead of South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, who scored 1,174. She also scored five ODI centuries this year, matching the tally of South Africa’s Tazmin Brits and Wolvaardt.
In the ongoing series, Mandhana also became the second woman to surpass 4,000 runs in international T20 cricket, with the record still held by Bates at 4,716 runs.
India had already secured the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka by winning the first three games.
