India opener and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana brought up her sixth ODI century during the first ODI against South Africa Women. Mandhana, India’s seasoned batter, achieved the feat on Sunday, June 16, at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The match marked the beginning of a South Africa Women’s tour of India, 2024. During the tour, both sides are set to clash in three ODIs, one Test, and a three T20I game series.
The game saw home skipper Harmanpreet Kaur winning the toss and inviting the rivals to field first. India, who were looking confident in the beginning, seemed to have surrendered to a determined South African bowling line-up. Indians kept losing wickets, but Mandhana took steering in her hands, and while keeping her nerves calm, came up with a significant knock leading to her 6th ODI hundred in 116 deliveries.
Mandhana became the first Indian woman to record her second hundred against South Africa. Interestingly, this is also her first ODI century at home.
Mandhana crosses 7000 international runs; only second Indian woman to do so
Earlier in the game, Mandhana crossed 7000 international runs across all formats when she scored a fighting half-century against South Africa. The 27-year-old is second only to former captain Mithali Raj (10868 runs) to have crossed the 7000 mark. Third following is current skipper Harmanpreet Kaur with 6870 runs across all formats.
Mandhana was forced to walk back to the pavilion after an outstanding knock of 117 runs off 127 deliveries. The RCB captain in IPL got out on a Masabata Klass delivery on the first ball of the 47th over.