Visakhapatnam, Oct 12: Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana on Sunday became the first player in women’s ODIs to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year during India’s high-profile Women’s World Cup group match against Australia here.
The 29-year-old opener also completed 5,000 runs in women’s ODIs, becoming only the fifth and second Indian batter after Mithali Raj to achieve the feat.
She is the youngest and fastest to the milestone, reaching it in 112 innings and 5,569 balls, surpassing Stafanie Taylor’s 129 innings and Suzie Bates’ 6,182 balls.
The elegant left-hander, who had endured a quiet start to the tournament, roared back to form in style smashing 80 off 66 balls (9x4s, 3x6s) and put together 155 runs opening stand with Pratika Rawal which was also the first century opening partnership of the competition.
Mandhana, who began the day on 982 runs from 17 matches, reached the 1,000-run landmark in the eighth over when she tore into Australian left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, smashing her for four, six and four in an over that yielded 16 runs.
Mandhana broke the long-standing record of Australia’s Belinda Clark (970 runs in 1997) of the highest run-getter in a calendar year in women’s ODIs.
She started her innings positively, opening her account with a boundary off the last ball of the first over from Kim Garth.
But it was Molineux’s over that lit up the innings. Mandhana lofted the first ball over mid-on for four, defended the next, then launched the third ball for a six over long-on before pulling another boundary over square leg to seal her place in the record books.
Mandhana, who had scores of 8, 23 and 23 against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa respectively earlier in the tournament, looked a completely different batter against her favourite opposition after Australia opted to bowl.
She batted with fluency and authority, dissecting the field with precision and using her silken drives and aerial strokes to unsettle the Australian attack. (PTI)
