AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Jan 15
Indian Women’s team openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal scored a century each to power India to their highest-ever total of 435/5 in the third and final Women’s ODI against Ireland on Wednesday (Jan 15).
Smriti Mandhana, leading the side in the absence of regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, went past Harmanpreet’s record of hitting the fastest ton, which came off in 87 balls against South Africa in Bengaluru in 2024. Smriti made 135 off 80 balls – an innings laced with 12 boundaries and seven sixes at a strike-rate of 170.9.
Ealier in the match, Smriti Mandhana (135) and Rawal (154) shared a whopping 233-run stand to give a phenomenal start to India after electing to bat.
Smriti was also involved in a record 233-run opening partnership with Pratika Rawal, the highest by an Indian women’s opening pair in home ODI matches. Smriti also became the first Indian woman to hit 10 ODI centuries. She is just the third opener after Meg Lanning (15) and Suzie Bates (13) to have 50-over centuries in double digits.In 2024, she made 747 runs in 13 ODIs, at an average of 57.46 and strike rate of 95.15, including hitting four centuries and three fifties. Besides this, she was also nominated for the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award for 2024.
Towards the end of the innigns, Richa Ghosh scored a quickfire 59 to further inflate India’s total as the Irish bowlers struggled to find answers.
