Can Smriti Mandhana break Meg Lanning’s record to become leading century-maker in ODIs? | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Smriti Mandhana has achieved a new milestone in Indian women’s cricket by surpassing Mithali Raj‘s record for the most ODI centuries scored by an Indian woman. With her latest century, Mandhana now has eight ODI hundreds, overtaking Raj’s tally of seven centuries.
Already recognized as one of India’s finest batters, Mandhana is on a promising journey toward challenging Meg Lanning‘s record of 15 ODI centuries. At 27, she is in her prime and has ample time to pursue this feat, especially having reached her current tally in just 88 matches.
In her ODI career so far, Mandhana has accumulated 3,690 runs with an average of 45.00 and a strike rate of 84.92. In addition to her eight centuries, she has 27 half-centuries to her name. Lanning, Australia’s prolific batter, scored her 15 centuries across 103 ODIs with a remarkable average of 53.51.
Mandhana’s consistency and aggressive style provide a strong foundation to surpass this milestone. Her average and strike rate rank her among the best in the game, highlighting her ability to consistently score big runs.
Mandhana recently notched her eighth century in the third ODI against New Zealand, scoring 100 off 122 balls to lead India in a 233-run chase, securing a 2-1 series victory.
Reflecting on her performance, the 28-year-old commented, “Initially when the first two matches don’t go your way as a batter and you get out in a similar fashion, sometimes it does play on your mind. But I think this innings for me was a lot of talking to myself. I don’t think I’ve left that many balls in One-dayers in the last four, five years. It was tough to watch the scorecard because I don’t see myself playing the slow innings. But Harman kept telling me that, do it for the team, do it for the team. So that kept me going. The partnerships were really crucial.”
Mandhana also acknowledged the team’s disappointment with their T20 World Cup showing in UAE, stating, “It’s not been easy, the last one and a half months for the team. We had a lot of expectations from all of us individually and as a team in the World Cup. The series came too soon for everyone. Half of everyone’s mind was still on the World Cup. This series win (against NZ) is definitely going to boost confidence, especially this being such a young team, they take things to heart. I’m really happy that we could win the series today and start the journey again.”