Smriti Mandhana registered a brilliant century to end her ODI hundred drought during the India women's cricket team's first ODI game against South Africa in Bengaluru on Sunday, June 16. The star Indian batter recorded her sixth ODI century and the first in the last two years.
The 27-year-old left-handed batter stood tall after India suffered an early collapse at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Mandhana and Deepti Sharma added 81 runs for the sixth wicket to lead India past 200. She took just 116 balls with the help of ten fours and one six to bring her second century against the Proteas Women.
Mandhana's last international hundred came against West Indies during the ICC ODI World Cup 2022. She was a consistent runscorer across formats in the last two years but missed out on three-digit scores on a couple of occasions.
India struggled for a good start after electing to bat first with youngster Shafali Verma scoring just seven runs. The returning star Jemimah Rodrigues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur also failed to impress as India lost the first five wickets before reaching a 100 total.
Deepti Sharma then joined Smriti and the duo pulled off an impressive 81-run stand for the sixth wicket to put India on a track for a big total. Deepti departed after scoring crucial 37 runs off 48 balls while Smriti top-scored with 117 runs off 127 balls before losing her wicket while attempting a big shot over the deep square leg off Masabata Klaas in the 47th over.
Pooja Vastrakar then smashed an unbeaten 31 runs in the closing stages as India posted a total of 265/8 in 50 overs. Pacer Ayabonga Khaka bagged three wickets for 47 while Klaas picked two for 51 for the travelling side.
Meanwhile, Smriti became the only second Indian women cricketer to score 7,000 international runs after the former captain Mithali Raj (10,868 runs). Smriti also surpassed Harmanpreet Kaur to record the most ODI centuries by an active Indian cricketer.
