Smriti Mandhana on Saturday scored her first ever T20I century and in the process, became the first Indian to have tons in all formats of women’s cricket. Mandhana, who is standing in as India captain in their first T20I against England at Trent Bridge, got to the mark in just 51 balls. She was eventually dismissed on 112 off 62 balls, which is also the highest-ever score by an Indian in women’s T20Is, her innings punctuated by 15 fours and three sixes.
Mandhana’s knock powered India to a score of 210/5 batting first. She was attacking right from the first ball, making up for the struggles of her opening partner Shafali Varma, who dragged her feet to 20 off 22 balls before being dismissed.
This was Mandhana’s 14th international ton. She has 11 centuries in ODI cricket, which is a record for India, and two Test tons. The previous highest score in the shortest format among Indians was 103 scored by Harmanpreet Kaur at the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India stated around the time of the toss that regular captain Harmanpreet had been rested “as a precautionary measure following a head injury” that she sustained during a warm-up game.
Mandhana earlier raised her half-century in 27 deliveries. She shared a 77-run opening stand with Shafali which came in just 52 balls, which was followed by a 94-run stand for the second wicket with Harleen Deol in 45 balls. Harleen managed to keep up with her skipper and was dropped on 26 by Danny Wyatt-Hodge off off-spinner Alice Capsey.
Mandhana soon went past 87, her previous best in the format, and touched the three-figure mark for the first time in her career that has 31 fifties. She got there by smashing successive fours off pacer Bell, who was England’s most successful bowler (3/27). The 28-year-old eventually fell to Sophie Ecclestone in the last over.
Bell removed Richa Ghosh (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues (0) in the 18th over to bring some temporary relief to the home side, but India had already reached a position of strength by then.
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