Smriti Mandhana slams 6th ODI hundred, becomes 2nd Indian after Mithali Raj to achieve elusive milestone

sanjeev

khelja|16-06-2024

New Delhi: Team India star Smriti Mandhana notched up her sixth ODI century in the ongoing first ODI between India and South Africa at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, June 16. Mandhana fought like a lone warrior after a mini collapse for India at the top to help them recover well and completed her century off just 116 balls.
  The elegant left-hander looked in fabulous touch with the willow as she smashed the South African bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Mandhana lost her opening partner Shafali Verma cheaply on just 2 off 12 balls in the 4th over of the game before no.3 Dayalan Hemalatha was dismissed by Nonkululeko Mlaba on 12 off 16 balls. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur too failed to make an impact with the bat and was sent packing after managing only 10 runs by Annerie Dercksen as India were left reeling at 55/3. Mandhana continued to go strongly on one end and shared a 37-run stand with Jemimah Rodrigues (17) for the 4th wicket. She then added another important stand of 81 runs with all-rounder Deepti Sharma for the sixth wicket to put India in a strong position. Mandhana equals Mithali's feat En route to her sixth ODI ton, Mandhana completed 7,000 runs in women's international cricket and became only the second Indian batter to achieve the stellar feat after former captain Mithali Raj.
Mandhana also became only the sixth batter overall to reach 7,000 international runs in women's cricket after the likes of Mithali, Charlotte Edwards and Meg Lanning among others.
  Mithali is the leading run-getter of all time in women's international cricket with 10,868 runs to her name and is followed by Edwards at the second spot with 10,273 runs.
Mitahli is also the highest run-getter for India in women's international cricket with Mandhana following her in the second spot. 1. Mithali Raj 10868 runs 2. Charlotte Edwards 10273 runs 3. Suzie Bates 9904 4. Stafanie Taylor 8940 5. Meg Lanning 8352 6. Smriti Mandhana 7000* runs After completing her sixth ODI ton in the game, Mandhana will be hoping to guide India to a big total against South Africa in the first ODI at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The three-match ODI series between the two teams is part of the ICC ODI Championship which determines qualification for the ICC Women's ODI World Cup.