It was a historic moment for Indian women’s cricket as Smriti Mandhana became the 2nd Indian cricketer to score 7000 international runs. She achieved this feat during first One-day international match against South Africa at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on 16th June 2024.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to bat first. Smriti Mandhana looked in good touch with some lovely shots putting pressure on South African bowlers. The Indian batting order comprising Shafali Varma, Dayalan Hemalatha, captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Richa Ghosh went quickly leaving the hosts in trouble at 99 for 5.
Smriti Mandhana looked in good touch, taking singles and hitting boundaries off bad deliveries. She reached fifty-off 61 balls keeping the strike rotating. Mandhana and Deepti Sharma added 81 runs for the 6th wicket. Mandhana hit some lovely shots keeping the scoreboard ticking and not allowing the bowlers to settle.
Mandhana completed her 7000 ODI runs in the 28th over taking a single against Mlaba. It was a sensational knock by the star Indian batter reaching her century off 116 balls. Mandhana and Pooja Vastkar put on 58 runs for the 7th wicket. Mandhana was dismissed for 117 of 127 deliveries with 12 boundaries and 1 six. Asha Sobhana and Pooja Vastkar ensured that the Indian team reached 265 for 8 in 50 overs.
Renuka Singh produced a peach to dismiss South African captain Laura Woolvardt to break the backbone. Asha Sobhana making her ODI debut was brilliant with 4 for 21. Indian team registered an emphatic 143 runs win to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series. For her match-winning knock, Smriti Mandhana was named the player of the match award.
Second Indian To Score 7000 International Runs
Smriti Mandhana became the second Indian to score 7000 international runs. She played a total of 6 Test matches (11 innings) with 480 runs including the best score of 127.
Mandhana featured across 83 ODI matches (83 innings) with 3359 runs with 6 centuries and 26 half-centuries including the best score of 135 against South Africa. She has played 133 T20I matches (129 innings) with 3220 runs. Mandhana scored 23 half-centuries in this format with the best score of 87.
She has scored 7159 runs so far in 222 international matches and would be looking to continue the same in the remaining two ODIs against South Africa. Mithali Raj holds the record for the most runs by an Indian in international cricket. She scored 10868 runs in her long career.
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