Smriti Mandhana Makes History with 4000 T20I Runs in Women's Cricket
Historic Achievement for Smriti Mandhana
In Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on December 21, Indian cricket star Smriti Mandhana made headlines by becoming the first Indian woman to score 4000 runs in Women's T20 International cricket.
This remarkable feat was accomplished during the inaugural T20I match against Sri Lanka Women at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Mandhana, who contributed 25 runs in the match, is now the second woman ever to reach the 4000-run mark in T20Is, following New Zealand's Suzie Bates, who has a total of 4716 runs.
Notably, Mandhana achieved this milestone in just 3227 balls, making her the fastest to do so, surpassing Bates, who took 3675 balls.
Additionally, she is on the verge of another significant milestone, needing only 42 more runs to reach 10,000 runs in women's international cricket. To date, Mandhana has accumulated 4007 runs in T20Is, 5322 in ODIs, and 629 in Test matches.
In the match itself, Jemimah Rodrigues played a pivotal role, scoring an unbeaten half-century that propelled the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India Women to a convincing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka Women.
With this win, India Women now lead the five-match T20I series 1-0.
Chasing a target of 122 runs, Jemimah scored an impressive 69 runs off 44 balls, hitting 10 boundaries, and helped India complete the chase in just 14.4 overs. She also matched Mithali Raj's record of four 50-plus scores against Sri Lanka in T20Is.
During the innings, Mandhana and Jemimah formed a vital 54-run partnership for the second wicket, setting a solid foundation for the chase.
Jemimah also partnered with captain Harmanpreet Kaur for an unbeaten 55-run stand for the third wicket, with Kaur contributing 15 runs, leading the Women in Blue to victory.
Earlier, Sri Lanka Women batted first and managed to score 121 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their 20 overs, with opener Vishmi Gunaratne being the top scorer with 39 runs off 43 balls.
On the bowling front, Deepti Sharma was the standout performer, delivering an economical spell with figures of 1/20 in her four overs, which included a maiden over. Kranti Gaud also impressed with 1/23 from three overs, while Shree Charani took one wicket for 30 runs in her four overs.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka Women 121/6 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 39, Harshitha Samarawickrama 21; Deepti Sharma 1/20) vs India Women (Jemimah Rodrigues 69*, Smriti Mandhana 25; Inoka Ranaweera 1/17).