In the first T20 match against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam, Indian team’s star opener Smriti Mandhana set a major record. She became the first Indian woman cricketer to score more than 4000 runs in T20 Internationals.
The match was played on Sunday, and Smriti scored 25 runs in her innings, but with this, she joined this exclusive club.
Why is Smriti’s record so special?
Only New Zealand’s legendary Suzie Bates had achieved this milestone before Smriti. Suzie currently has 4,716 runs. However, Smriti completed these 4000 runs in just 3,227 balls, while Suzie took 3,675 balls. This means Smriti scored runs much faster and impressed everyone with her aggressive batting. This shows how consistent and attacking a player she is.
What happened in the match?
Sri Lanka batted first and scored 121 runs, with Vishmi Gunaratne scoring the highest 39 runs. The Indian bowlers maintained good control, not allowing Sri Lanka to score too many runs despite the dew.
Deepti Sharma bowled economically, and debutant Vaishnavi Sharma also conceded very few runs.
In the chase, Smriti scored 25 runs off 25 balls and was dismissed in the ninth over. But after that, Jemimah Rodrigues played an unbeaten innings of 69 runs, and India easily won the match by 8 wickets. This was Smriti’s first international match after the ODI World Cup victory, where India defeated South Africa to win their first title.
Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu said after the match, “120 is not a good total. We have to bounce back in the next game. We made a lot of mistakes in the middle.
We have to play positive cricket in the middle.” The Indian team now leads the series 1-0, and the next match will also be played in Visakhapatnam. Smriti’s record is a great source of motivation for Indian women’s cricket.
