In the eighth over, when Sophie Molineux came on, Smriti Mandhana saw a favourable match-up. Molinuex and Mandhana are well familiar with each other, with the Indian vice captain – who is the leader at Royal Challengers Bengaluru – personally insisting on the recruitment of the left-arm spinner in the WPL ahead of the second season. Molineux would go on to play a stellar role in RCB's title-winning campaign. But at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, Mandhana took Molineux down early. The first ball was lofted over midwicket for four, the third lofted over mid on for a six and the last was pulled over square leg for another four. It signalled the arrival of Mandhana, the world No 1 ODI batter, to the ICC Women's World Cup. When the players' names were announced before the match with more than a few thousand fans already seated, it was no surprise that Mandhana received the loudest cheers. She's been the face of this World Cup, her presence the most prominent among broadcaster promos and brand endorsements. One of the officials from another team at the World Cup remarked that when they switched on their television sets, all they could see was Mandhana. But the Indian superstar hadn't quite gotten going at the tournament for the first three matches. Scores of 8, 23 and 23 were well below her standards. On Sunday, in the biggest match of the tournament yet, Mandhana returned to her fluent best in a knock of 80 off 66 balls with nine fours and three sixes. The knock powered India to 330, the highest total ever against Australia in women's ODIs, but the match didn't end in India's favour as Australia produced a world-record run-chase to win with an over to spare. A spectacular start courtesy #TeamIndia openers 🇮🇳 8️⃣0️⃣ (66) for Smriti Mandhana 7️⃣5️⃣ (96) for Pratika Rawal The duo added a blistering 1️⃣5️⃣5️⃣ for the first wicket 🔥 Updates ▶ | #INDvAUS | #CWC25 | @mandhana_smriti pic.twitter.com/Tyzsb3owIE — BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 12, 2025 While a batter can sometimes be in form and still not manage to score runs, it was a bit concerning for India that Mandhana looked nowhere near fluent in her first three outings. The pitches played a part, with Guwahati, Colombo and Vizag all affected by rain at one point or another, and moisture making the pitches tacky. But the conditions were perfect on a hot Vizag afternoon, and she looked in the mood from the word go. A delightful cover drive off Kim Garth off the last ball of the first over set her on her way. Mandhana, however, didn't go too hard too early as she played out the first three overs each from the pacers Garth and Megan Schutt. Australia had a fielder at deep point and curtailed her primary boundary option in the powerplay. It was here that Mandhana had fallen into the trap set by Sri Lanka in the opener. But once the pacers' opening spells ended, Mandhana started taking charge. Turnaround moment The Molineux over was the definitive turnaround for the Indian opener. In the left-arm spinners next over, she stayed inside the line of the ball and cut the ball away on the offside for four – after targeting the leg side in the previous over for all of her three boundaries. Once the powerplay was completed, there was a brief lull which Mandhana broke with a premeditated scoop off her unfavourable match-up in Ash Gardner. Though Gardner did come back with a cracking delivery that turned and beat her outside edge, Mandhana didn't get bogged down against a bowler who has troubled her repeatedly in the past. In the 16th over, she put away a couple of boundaries through a packed offside field at the edge of the inner ring. Mandhana's half-century came in the 19th over. Then at the end of the 21st over, Mandhana brought up another milestone with a six over extra cover off Kim Garth – the fastest to cross 5000 runs in women's ODIs in terms of innings taken. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ICC (@icc) Another fascinating battle followed between Molineux and Mandhana in the 23rd over. Back into the attack, the left-arm spinner started the over from around the wicket, firing a quicker one across the batter, which was called wide. Next one was exactly the same delivery, but not called. It was Australia trying to keep Mandhana quiet, but next ball, the batter moved across and lofted one past deep midwicket for four. Molineux did eventually account for Mandhana, caught at deep midwicket, when a century seemed imminent. Before the match, head coach Amol Muzumdar had told JioHotsar, "It's the scariest part for the opposition that the top order hasn't clicked. In this World Cup, the lower order has definitely come through but abhi picture baaki hai." At least Mandhana lived up to that and her innings in a losing cause would be the silver-lining for India as the opener's return to fluency augurs well for a semifinal push that is starting to look tricky.
