Smriti Mandhana's top 5 knocks in international cricket

Left-handed batter Smriti Mandhana has been an integral part of the Indian Women’s cricket team for a very long time. The southpaw made her international debut in the shortest format in a match against Bangladesh in April 2013. Just five days after that, Mandhana represented India in the 50-over format for the first time. While it was in August 2014 when she went on to make her debut in the longest format against England. Since then, she has represented India in more than 150 matches across all formats.

Talking about her numbers, Smriti Mandhana has scored 2,788 runs at an average of 42.24 in the 50-over format. In the 20-over format, the southpaw has played 84 matches and scored 1971 runs at a decent average of almost 26. In the whites, she has scored 325 runs in just 4 matches, averaging 46.42.

On that note, here is a look at the five best knocks of Smriti Mandhana in international cricket:

1. 127 vs Australia, 4-day match, 2021

This was a record-breaking from Smriti Mandhana that came against the mighty Australian side at the Carrara Oval. Her 127 is the first century by an Indian women’s cricketer in Australia as well as the first by any Indian women’s batter in a pink-ball game. Prior to this, no other women’s batter had scored a hundred in any format in Australia. Mandhana helped India earn a respectable draw eventually.

2. 135 vs South Africa, 50-over game, 2018

The Indian Women’s team were playing South Africa in Kimberley back in 2018 in a 50-over game. After being put in to bat, India got off to a good start with openers Punam Raut and Smriti Mandhana stitching a 56-run stand for the opening wicket. Mandhana, who held the innings for the Women in Blue, played an excellent knock. She reached the 100-run mark in 116 balls. Her innings enabled the visitors to post a daunting total of 302 runs and win the game comfortably in the end.

3. 106* vs West Indies, 50-over Mega event, 2017

Chasing a total of 184 against West Indies in the 2017 Women’s mega event in the 50-over format, Team India got off to a poor start, losing two batters quickly. However, Smriti Mandhana, along with Mithali Raj, stitched a valuable partnership for the third wicket. Mandhana remained unbeaten with 106 as India won the contest in the end. The left-handed batter was also named the “Player for the Match” for her antics with the bat.

4. 105 vs New Zealand, 50-over game, 2019

After an impressive bowling effort from the Indian bowlers, New Zealand were restricted to just 192 runs in a 50-over game played in Napier back in 2019. Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues got off to a flying start with the left-hander being the aggressor of the two batters as she took apart the White Ferns bowlers single-handedly. Mandhana got out towards the end of the innings, but India won that contest quite easily. She was awarded the “Player of the Match” for her 105-run knock.

5.  58 vs New Zealand, T20 match, 2019

Smriti Mandhana holds the record of scoring the fastest half-century for India in the shortest format of the game. She achieved the feat while playing against New Zealand in 2019. The left-handed batter scored her fifty off just 24 balls to better her record from 2018 when she had scored the then fastest half-century by an Indian women’s cricketer, which came off 30 balls in a match against Australia. However, she could not win the match for her side, as India lost that game against New Zealand by 23 runs.

While Smriti Mandhana is not in action at the moment, she was recently named as the brand ambassador of Rario. Rario is the world’s first officially licensed cricket-based digital collectibles platform. They are among the first ones to venture into the growing world of digital collectibles in India. Apart from Mandhana, veteran pacer Zaheer Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis have also joined the Rario team.

The NFT platform recently signed a deal with Cricket Australia for introducing NFTs to cricket fans, creating a new fan engagement tool that celebrates the rich history of Australian cricket. After signing the deal with CA, more than one billion fans will also be able to play and win a lot of earnings.