Mandhana breaks two ODI records as India post 330 against Australia

Smriti Mandhana reached two major career milestones and powered India to a formidable total as the host nation faced Australia in a Women's World Cup group match at the ACAVDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on October 12. The Indian vice-captain became the first woman in One-Day Internationals to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year and also became the youngest and fastest woman to reach 5,000 WODI runs, finishing the innings on 80 from 66 balls as India posted 330 all out.

Mandhana and opening partner Pratika Rawal put on a 155-run opening stand that set the tone for India’s innings. The partnership came after a cautious start and included a sharp acceleration against Australia’s spinners, with Mandhana producing an over to remember from Sophie Molineux that yielded 16 runs and took her past the 1,000-run mark for the year, surpassing Belinda Clark’s long-standing 1997 benchmark of 970. Mandhana completed 5,000 WODI runs in her 112th innings and in 5,569 balls, eclipsing Stafanie Taylor’s previous fastest mark of 129 innings and becoming only the fifth woman overall to reach the milestone.

Mandhana’s innings featured nine fours and three sixes, and she brought up her half-century off...