India’s Smriti Mandhana sets a new record in cricket once again and asserts herself as perhaps one of the best batters in women’s cricket at present.
On 17th Dec 2024, against West Indies at the Navi Mumbai during the second T20I knock, Mandhana reached 29 half-centuries in T20I to break the former record held by New Zealand cricketer Suzie Bates who has scored 28 half-ton.
Smriti Mandhana comes through as a brace debtor during this outstanding moment of performance. In the match against West Indies, she scored 62 runs which played quite a role in making India’s total 159 runs.
However India lost the match as the West Indies chased the total putting the three-match T20 series into the deadlock.
This match also showed that Mandhana really has the temperament to consistently deliver a half-century every other match if not of the entire team then of herself.
The relevance of this record is beyond doubt. With 29 fifties in T20Is, Mandhana is now the leading fifty-maker in this category.
This milestone focuses on the pressure aspect and more importantly the erosion of India’s batting line.
Apart from those half-centuries, she has made 3,684 runs in the T20 internationals for 141 innings turning her into the top run-getter.
Many excellent performances lead to this record in Mandhana: 2024 season.
In ODIs alone, she has been instrumental in many matches, having made four centuries this year. Her best scoring for ODIs for 2024 total is a high of 136 runs.
This has taken her career tally to nine ODI centuries; thus putting her in fourth place on the list of all-time leading women’s ODIs centurions; alongside Nat Sciver-Brunt and Chamari Athapaththu.
It is noteworthy that the Indian vice-captain’s achievements are not only the individual ones; they reflect the strengthening trend of competitive deeds in women’s cricket.
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It can be seen that when more cricketers make records and set standards, women’s cricket gets highlighted and gets more attention. The achieved success of Smriti Mandhana makes young cricketers and fans motivated.
On a side note apart from those recent accomplishments of Mandana in T20s and ODIs, she has really done quite well in domestic leagues as well.
The WPL is among leagues her daughters have represented in teams that have clearly made her a premier league player.
Thus Smriti Mandhana is one of the key players one will have to mark down for future matches to come as she continues to break barriers and set new records.
This again and again proves her potential as an efficient and indispensable player of the Indian team and the global cricket map.
Every time Smriti Mandhana takes the field, more so every time she faces the opposition bowlers, Mandhana adds to her growing legacy as a player as well as a path-breaker for women’s cricket.
It is evident that just like all those fans are waiting for her next program, this athletic personality has set record after record and again for today it has been proved again.