Sports News: India thrash Smriti Mandhana made history on Sunday during the Women’s ODI World Cup match versus Australia in Visakhapatnam. Mandhana scored a quick 80 off 66 balls, rhadamanthine the first player overly to score over 1,000 runs in Women’s ODIs in a single timetable year. The 29-year-old opener moreover reached 5,000 runs in women's ODIs, rhadamanthine only the fifth player overall and the second Indian, without Mithali Raj, to reach this milestone. She achieved it faster and at a younger age than anyone else, reaching it in 112 innings and 5,569 balls, surpassing Stafanie Taylor’s 129 innings and Suzie Bates’ 6,182 balls.
Roared Back To Form in Style
After a quiet start to the tournament, Mandhana returned strongly, smashing 80 off 66 balls with nine fours and three sixes. She built a 155-run opening partnership with Pratika Rawal, which was moreover the first century opening stand of the tournament.
The Record-Breaking Moment
Starting the day with 982 runs from 17 matches, Mandhana reached the 1,000-run mark in the eighth over. She attacked Australian left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, hitting four, six, and flipside four in the same over to navigate the milestone. With this, Mandhana tapped the long-standing record of Australia’s Belinda Clark, who scored 970 runs in 1997.
Fluent and Dominant Batting
Mandhana began her innings positively, scoring a purlieus off the last wittiness of the first over from Kim Garth. The over from Molineux became the highlight, with Mandhana hitting a four, defending one ball, then sending the next for a six, and pursuit it with flipside purlieus to seal her historic feat. Earlier in the tournament, Mandhana had scored 8, 23, and 23 versus Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and South Africa. But versus her favourite opposition Australia, she looked unstoppable, using smooth drives and well-ventilated shots to dominate the bowling attack.
