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Indian opener Smriti Mandhana, along with her family offered prayers at the Tirupati Balaji Temple in Tirumala on Tuesday.
After guiding India to a thumping 10-wicket victory over South Africa in a one-off Test, Mandhana reached Tirumala to seek blessings of the divine. Mandhana was at her best as she reached the three-figure mark off just 122 balls. The southpaw slammed a career-best 149 off 161 balls (27 fours, 1 six) in a Test match against South Africa. Mandhana and Shafali amassed 292 runs for the first wicket on Day 1 of the red-ball match, putting the home team in a strong position from the start. With 205 from Shafali and 149 from Mandhana, India scored a massive 603 for 6 (declared) on the scoreboard. South Africa lost a 337-run lead in the first innings, but they exhibited tremendous bravery in the second. With respective scores of 122, 109, and 61 runs, Laura Wolvaardt, Sune Luus, and Nadine de Klerk made India work hard. India broke South Africa's resolve early in the last day's session to set up their crushing 10-wicket victory in the one-off Test in Chennai. On the last day, Nadine de Klerk kept the enthusiastic visitors going, but India continued to chip away. In the first two sessions, they each took three wickets, with Sneh Rana being the second Indian player to take ten or more in a single game. To keep South Africa in the game, De Klerk batted out 185 balls for her 61, but it did nothing more than postpone the inevitable outcome, which went to India's advantage. Now after clinching ODI and Test series, Harmanpreet Kaur's India will take on South Africa in a three-match T20I series. The three-match T20I series will take place at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from July 5 to 9. (ANI)
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