Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur for once found herself ahead of former Australian captain and serial trophy winner Meg Lanning after the Women in Blue registered their second consecutive win in the ongoing Women's World Cup win. India achieved a commanding 88-run win over their arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and it was the 90th win for Kaur as a player, having represented India in 154 ODIs.
Kaur surpassed Lanning, who was part of 89 wins in women's ODIs, representing Australia in 103 matches during her illustrious 13-year international career. The fact that Lanning lost just 13 ODIs in her career is proof of the invincibility of the Australian women's cricket team during her time.
Mithali Raj leads the overall list with 129 wins in 232 ODIs, the former Indian captain played, while being part of 99 defeats as well. Among current players, only Ellyse Perry (125), current Australian skipper (103) and former England captain (100) are part of the centenary club. Perry is inching closer to Raj's record and could leapfrog the Indian legend during the ongoing World Cup itself.
Kaur might not get to the 100 mark during the World Cup, but does have an opportunity to go past the likes of Australian legends Cathryn Fitzpatrick (91) and Belinda Clark (94) and former English international Katherine Sciver-Brunt (93).
India make a good start to the World Cup despite obvious shortcomings
For the second game in a row, India's batting found itself getting tied against the spinners in the middle overs and if not for Richa Ghosh's late flourish, the Women in Blue might have struggled to get to a score of even 225. The bowlers have fantastic for India in both games, restricting Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the second innings but if Harmanpreet Kaur and Co have to go deep into the tournament, the middle-order batting and fielding need major improvements.
