New Delhi: Team India star Smriti Mandhana continued her stellar run with the bat in the third and final ODI against South Africa at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, June 23. Mandhana closely missed on notching up her third consecutive century in the series as she was dismissed for 90 runs off 83 balls. Nonetheless, the Indian opener managed to script history by achieving a stellar feat.
Mandhana created the record for the most runs scored by any batter in a three-match ODI series in the history of women’s cricket. She had notched up back-to-back centuries in the first two matches and followed it up with a brilliant 90 on Sunday. Mandhana scored 117 off 127 balls in the first ODI and followed it up with a 136-run-knock off 120 balls in the second ODI.
She finished the series with 343 runs from three matches, the highest ever by a batter in women’s batter in a three-match ODI rubber. Mandhana also broke former batter Jaya Sharma’s record for the most runs by an Indian in a women’s ODI series. Jaya notched up 309 runs in a five-match ODI series against New Zealand in 2003.
Most runs for India in a women’s ODI series:
342 – Smriti Mandhana vs SA, 2024
309 – Jaya Sharma vs NZ, 2003
289 – Mithali Raj vs AUS, 2004
287 – Mithali Raj vs ENG, 2010
Mandhana’s 90-run knock against South Africa also saw her become the first Asian batter to score more than 300 runs in a three-match ODI series in women’s cricket. Thanks to her impressive knock, India thrashed South Africa by 6 wickets after successfully chasing down the target of 216 runs with 9.2 overs to spare to register a 3-0 clean sweep in the three-match series.
India beat South Africa by 6 wickets
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, South Africa did get off to a good start but their middle order failed to deliver as the Proteas could only manage 215/8 on the board in 50 overs. Mandhana led India’s chase with her brilliant 90 as she combined with her opening partner Shafali Verma (25) to add 61 runs for the first wicket before sharing another crucial stand of 62 runs with Priya Punia, who scored 28 off 40 balls.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur too continued to be among the runs as she registered a crucial knock of 42 runs off 48 balls to steer India home in the run chase.
Indian women’s team star Smriti Mandhana scripted history as she achieved a huge feat with her 90-run knock in the third ODI against South Africa at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
