On Saturday, September 20, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Smriti Mandhana delivered a brilliant innings in the third and final One-Day International match against Australia. India needed their talismanic opener to fire in order to reach the daunting target of 413, and she did so expertly.
On the second ball she faced in the innings, Smriti smashed a boundary. She did, however, go loose in the next over and hit Megan Schutt for a hat-trick of boundaries. Smriti continued to improve as Pratika Rawal was removed in the next over.
Against Ashleigh Gardner, the southpaw blasted his first six of the innings in the fifth over. Smriti maintained her foot on the accelerator while Harleen Deol took her time settling into the crease. Mandhana reached her half-century off just 23 balls in the seventh over. In the history of women’s ODI cricket, this was the fastest half-century scored by an Indian batsman.
In the tenth over of the innings, Grace Harris gave Mandhana a respite.
The Mumbai batswoman and captain Harmanpreet Kaur put on a 121-run partnership off 69 balls, making Australia pay for the error.
To reach an incredible century, Mandhana hit Alana King for a six over mid-wicket off the second ball of the 18th over. In women’s ODI cricket, she set a new record for the fastest century scored by an Indian batswoman. The previous record was held by Virat Kohli, who reached a three-figure total off of fifty-two balls against Australia in Jaipur in 2013. That record was surpassed by two balls by Mandhana. In the history of women’s cricket, this is also the second-fastest ODI century.
The 29-year-old faced 63 deliveries before being expelled for 125. She ended with an incredible strike rate of 198.41, hitting 17 fours and five maximums. In the 22nd over, Harris defeated her by holing out to Gardner at deep square leg. In ODI cricket, this is Mandhana’s thirteenth century.
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