Smriti Mandhana ended her poor runs of form with a brilliant century in the third ODI game against Australia women on Wednesday. The Indian opener scored 105 runs off just 109 balls to keep India alive in a mammoth chase of 299 at the WACA Ground in Perth.
The left-handed batter failed to reach a double-digit score in the first two games of the series but rounded off with her 9th ODI century. Mandhana also became the first Indian women cricketer to register multiple ODI centuries against mighty Australians.
Before Mandhana, only three Indian women cricketers had reached the 100-run mark against Australia in ODI innings but none repeated this feat. Notably, the former captain and legendary batter Mithali Raj never scored a ton in ODIs against Australia.
Indian players to hit hundreds against Australia women in ODIs
- Smriti Mandhana - 2
- Harmanpreet Kaur - 1
- Punam Raut - 1
- Jaya Sharma - 1
Meanwhile, with her 9th ODI century, the 28-year-old Indian star also broke into the top 5 list of players with the most hundreds in women's ODI cricket history. She is now only behind Meg Lanning, Suzie Bates and Tammy Beaumont.
Most hundreds in women's ODIs
- Meg Lanning - 15 centuries in 102 innings
- Suzie Bates - 13 centuries in 160 innings
- Tammy Beaumont - 10 centuries in 113 innings
- Smriti Mandhana - 9 centuries in 91 innings
- Natalie Sciver-Brunt - 9 centuries in 98 innings
