On Sunday, Smriti Mandhana, the vice captain of India, made history by becoming the second Indian and only the fourth woman batter in the world to score 10,000 international runs. The historic event took place at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram during the fourth Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka.
Mandhana needed just 27 runs to accomplish the milestone at the start of the game. She had amassed 9,972 runs in 279 international Test, ODI, and T20I matches going into the match. With this accomplishment, she joins an exclusive group that includes Charlotte Edwards (10,273), Suzie Bates (10,652), and Mithali Raj (10,868 runs).
After Mithali Raj, Mandhana is become the second Indian woman to surpass the 10,000-run milestone in international cricket.
India had already won the five-match Twenty20 International series 3-0 going into the game. After winning the toss, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu decided to bowl in the hopes that the chase would be aided by the dew later in the evening. Mandhana got off to a great start with Shafali Verma, opening the innings so that her partner could take the aggressive role. In the first six overs of the powerplay, India scored 61 runs without losing. By driving a full delivery towards long-on to reach her 10,000th international run, Mandhana accomplished her historic feat.
Both openers were well set, and India had reached 85 without loss before the conclusion of the tenth over. Shafali Verma extended her strong run with 48 off 29 deliveries, while Mandhana was undefeated on 37 off 31 balls, hitting six boundaries. The hosts enjoyed a significant lead in the match because the opening stand had already surpassed fifty.
See the list of female batters who have amassed 10,000 international runs:
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