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Indian opener Smriti Mandhana created history as she became the second Indian woman to reach 5,000 runs in Women's One Day Internationals (ODIs) and the first-ever player globally to surpass 1,000 runs in a calendar year as they scored 330 runs in their group stage ICC Women's World Cup clash against Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Openers Pratika Rawal (75 in 96 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Mandhana (80 in 66 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) laid down the platform with an incredible 155-run stand for the opening wicket. However, India could not capitalise on it a lot as a five-wicket haul from Annabel Sutherland (5/40) and Sophie Molineux (3/75) managed to take regular wickets later on, restricting India to 330 runs in 48.5 overs. The left-hander Mandhana is the fifth player to have reached 5,000 runs in women's ODI, scoring 5,000 runs so far in 112 matches and innings at an average of 47.37, with 13 centuries and 33 fifties. At the age of 29 years and 68 days, she is the youngest to reach the milestone, the fastest to get there in terms of innings (112) and balls faced (5,569), bettering Stafanie Taylor (129 innings) and Suzie Bates (6,182 balls), respectively. Having already broken Aussie legend Belinda Clark's record of 970 runs, once the highest in a calendar year in women's ODIs during the previous clash against South Africa, Mandhana became the first-ever player to cross the 1,000-run mark in a calendar year. This year, she has been fantastic, with 1,062 runs in 18 matches and innings at an average of 59.00 and a strike rate of 112.85, with four centuries and four fifties. Her last five innings against Australia are: 105, 58, 117, 125 and now 80, making her the only batter to register five consecutive 50-plus scores against Australia Women in ODIs. 106* runs is the highest opening stand against Australia in World Cups, bettering 101 runs added by England's E Bakewell & D Thomas in the inaugural World Cup back in 1973. The Mandhana-Rawal pair is a gift that keeps on giving, having registered six century stands (in 21 innings) for India (for any wickets), the second-highest next to seven between Mithali Raj and Punam Raut (34 innings). They have had a four-century partnership in this calendar year, the second-most by a pair in a calendar year, with the top pair being Belinda and Lisa Keightley (Australia) (five in the 2000s). This is the highest total for India in the Women's Cricket World Cup, surpassing their 317/8 against the West Indies in 2022 at Hamilton. After exploits from Mandhana-Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, the skipper (22 in 17 balls, with three fours), Jemimah Rodrigues (33 in 21 balls, with five fours), and Richa Ghosh (32 in 22 balls, with three fours and two sixes) walked the talk with an attacking approach, but could not convert their starts to milestones as Sutherland and Molineux took India from 234/2 in 36.2 overs to 330 all out in 48.5 overs. Annabel Sutherland also reached a personal milestone by taking her 50th wicket in Women's ODIs, finishing with career-best figures of 5/40 in this match. (ANI)
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