The Indian women’s team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur recently hosted the White Ferns led by skipper Sophie Devine for a three-match ODI series that concluded on 29th October 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. India won the 1st ODI comprehensively, and New Zealand counter-punched and bounced back to level the series with a dominating victory. As a result, the series was pushed into the decider in the 3rd ODI.
In the series decider, New Zealand was bundled out for 232 with one ball to spare, after skipper Sophie Devine won the toss and opted to bat first. Brooke Halliday’s career-best of 86 off 96 balls was instrumental in taking their side past the 200-run mark. Spinners, Deepti Sharma (10-2-39-3), and Priya Mishra (10-1-41-2) were the top performers with the ball for India.
Chasing a target of 233, while Shafali Verma departed cheaply, Smriti Mandhana dug in the middle, had her share of luck against Lea Tahuhu in the 3rd over where New Zealand didn’t claim a wicket, and she went on to smash her well-deserved century (100 off 122 balls) en route to a match-defining 117-run 3rd wicket partnership, playing a crucial role alongside skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (59* off 63 balls) in helping the home side clinch the three-match ODI series with a comprehensive 6-wicket win. She broke multiple records en route to her match-winning innings. Let’s have a look at the list of records she broke on her way to finding her rhythm back with the bat in the series decider after departing for 5 and 0 in the first couple of ODIs.
HISTORY MADE AT NARENDRA MODI STADIUM!
Smriti Mandhana scores 8th ODI Century 💯 #CricketTwitter #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/8rdsxZjkWr
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 29, 2024
Smriti surpassed former skipper Mithali Raj’s tally of 7 ODI centuries to become the player with the most number of centuries for India (8) in women’s ODIs.
- Most Centuries for India in Women’s ODIs:
Smriti Mandhana: 8
Mithali Raj: 7
Harmanpreet Kaur: 6
Poonam Raut: 3
Thirush Kamini: 2
She is now joint 5th highest alongside skipper Sophie Devine in terms of the number of centuries scored in the Women’s ODIs.
- Most Centuries in Women’s ODIs:
15 – Meg Lanning
13 – Suzie Bates
10 – Tammy Beaumont
9 – Chamari Athapaththu, Charlotte Edwards, Nat Sciver-Brunt
8 – Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana
She is the 3rd fastest (in terms of the number of innings batted) after Meg Lanning (45 innings) to score 8 centuries in Women’s ODIs.
- Fastest woman to eight ODI centuries (by innings):
45 – Meg Lanning
74 – Tammy Beaumont
88 – Smriti Mandhana
89 – Nat Sciver-Brunt
95 – Suzie Bates, Chamari Athapaththu
96 – Laura Wolvaardt
She joins another elite list with the most centuries in Women’s ODIs before turning 30. She is joint 2nd on the list, alongside South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt.
- Most centuries in women’s ODIs before turning 30:
15 – Meg Lanning AUS (97 innings)
8 – Smriti Mandhana IND (88); Laura Wolvaardt SA (97); Suzie Bates NZ (99) - She now has the joint most centuries (3) in Women’s ODIs in India alongside former England skipper Charlotte Edwards (28 innings), Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (50 innings), and former Indian skipper Mithali Raj (80 innings).
- She has the most centuries (3 in 39 innings) in ODI run chases for India, Jaya Sharma (1 in 37 innings), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (1, in 44 innings), and former skipper Mithali Raj (1 in 92 innings), clearly indicating that she loves ODI run chases.
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