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Smriti Mandhana touched a record before being dismissed against Thailand in the ongoing Women's Asia Cup match at the Dubai International Stadium. The star opener of the India Women's National Cricket Team edged past Suzie Bates to claim second place as she became the second-highest run-scorer in women's international cricket.
Smriti Mandhana is currently behind the former India captain Mithali Raj, who remains on top of the chart with 10,868 runs. Mandhana can surpass the Indian legendary batter, as she is in second place with 10,746 runs. Tonight, against Thailand, the India Women's cricket team started their innings on a strong note with Mandhana and Shafali Verma as the openers.
Smriti Mandhana is now the second-highest run-scorer in Women's international cricket.
Thailand got the massive wicket in the form of Smriti Mandhana on the final ball of the third over of the first innings, when India was on 38 runs. Mandhana had to depart with only 19 balls from 10 balls. She was looking well on track, smashing four 4s, but the moment of brilliance from Aphisara Suwanchonrathi forced Mandhana to leave the crease.
The left-handed batter opened the innings for the Indian cricket team on full throttle, smashing three 4s in the very first over of the match against Thailand's Phannita Maya. With three fours and one single, she claimed 13 runs to start things in style for the Women in Blue.
Smriti Mandhana is nearing a record to surpass legendary Mithali Raj as well
Through the explosive over, Mandhana not only confirmed a strong start for her but also created the record. After the two Indian stars, Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana, Suzie Bates (10740 runs), Charlotte Edwards (10273 runs), and Stafanie Taylor (10007 runs) are now ranked third, fourth, and fifth in the list of women's international batters with the most amount of runs.
Most runs in Women’s international cricket
10868 - Mithali Raj
10750 - Smriti Mandhana
10740 - Suzie Bates
10273 - Charlotte Edwards
10007 - Stafanie Taylor
An evenly balanced pitch for the India vs Thailand match
Ahead of the match, Veda Krishnamurthy, former India women's cricketer, mentioned that the pitch looked nice for a well-balanced contest. India and Thailand are up against each other for the third match of the ongoing Asia Cup; the previous two matches were held on the same pitch on which the current match is underway.
As the surface is already used twice, it was assumed that it might cause discomfort for the batters. Proving the assumptions wrong, Veda Krishnamurthy nodded in favor of a well-balanced match between the batters and bowlers.
"This is Match 3, and this pitch has been used already two times in this tournament. Looking at the surface, I want to show you that, despite being a used surface, it's quite hard and nice. This is nice. This is not deteriorated. That means the batters will still enjoy batting here, and at the same time, the bowlers will enjoy as well," she explained.
Krishnamurthy's predictions proved on point when Mandhana started to swing his bat against the Thailand bowler in the very first over. Later, her opening partner, Shafali Verma, also geared up as the innings progressed.
