Mandhana Hits 112 off 62 Balls in Opening T20I

NOTTINGHAM: In a historic achievement on Saturday, Smriti Mandhana, the left-handed opening batter, etched her name in the record books as the first female cricketer representing India to achieve a century in all three formats of the game.

Mandhana accomplished this milestone during India’s dominant 97-run victory against England in the first T20I of their five-match series, held at Trent Bridge.

She now shares this distinction with Suresh Raina, the former middle-order batter, who was the initial Indian cricketer to score centuries across all formats in men’s cricket.

The left-handed opener showcased her prowess by overwhelming England’s bowling attack, smashing 112 runs in just 62 balls.

Mandhana also stands as the second Indian woman to achieve a century in T20Is, following skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who reached this feat against New Zealand in 2018.

Moreover, her impressive 112-run innings now represents the highest individual score for India in women’s T20Is, surpassing Kaur’s previous record of 103 against New Zealand.

She punished the English bowlers with 15 boundaries and three sixes in her match-winning innings, totaling 78 runs through these hits, marking the highest number of boundary runs by an Indian batter in women’s T20Is, edging past Kaur’s 76 against New Zealand.

Her remarkable innings, along with Harleen Deol’s contribution of 43 runs, propelled India to a total of 210/5 in their 20 overs.

In response, the English batting lineup collapsed, scoring only 113 runs in 14.5 overs, resulting in a 97-run defeat, their largest margin of defeat in women’s T20Is based on runs.

Captain Sciver-Brunt fought valiantly for the hosts, scoring a resilient half-century with a top score of 66 off 42 balls, including 10 boundaries.

Apart from her, only Arlott (12) and Tammy Beaumont (10) managed to reach double figures, indicating the struggles of the England batters against India’s strong spin attack.

Left-arm spinner Charani spearheaded India’s bowling attack, claiming four wickets while conceding just 12 runs in 3.5 overs. Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav supported her by taking two wickets each, and Arundhati Reddy and Kaur each took one.

Smriti Mandhana was named Player of the Match for her match-winning performance.