Smriti Mandhana was at her A-game recently as she scored an exceptional ton and remained unbeaten, scoring 114 in just 64 balls, firing 14 fours and three sixes, at a strike rate of 178.12.
This happened in the Women's Big Bash League when Mandhana, who represents Sydney Thunder Women went up against Melbourne Renegades and were chasing a total of 176.
Unfortunately, Mandhana's ton wasn't enough to take her side through the finish line as Sydney Thunder lost by just four runs.
The match witnessed another phenomenal performance from an Indian woman cricketer, and that's Harmanpreet Kaur, who ensured that Melbourne Renegades Post a total that's competitive. She scored an unbeaten 81 off 55 balls, scoring 11 fours and 2 sixes. Credit to Harmanpreet as she was also the one who defended just 13 runs from the last over and helped her side win.
Despite the loss, Mandhana's innings was the one that caught everyone's eyes as she kept toiling until the end. Let's have a look at some records that Smriti broke that night.
Big Bash All-time record
Smriti's ton was the all-time highest score by a woman in the Women's Big Bash League as she equaled Ashleigh Gardner's record, who also scored 114 in the year 2017.
After Mandhana and Gardner comes Alyssa Healy who takes the third and the fourth spot, scoring 112* and 111 respectively in 2018 and 2020.
India's pride
Smriti Mandhana became the first-ever Indian to score a ton in the Big Bash League. Smriti Mandhana has had some astonishing moments in her career and this has certainly earned a spot in one of them.
# History-maker for Sydney Thunder: 114* scored by Smriti was also the first ton scored by a Sydney Thunder batswoman.
# This was also Smriti Mandhana's highest individual score in the T20s. The ton was also her second in the 20-over format. Mandhana's lost T20 century overseas came in the KSL in 2018.
An interesting fact about both her tons is that she has managed to score them when Harmanpreet Kaur was her opposition.
Smriti Mandhana made her T20I debut in 2013 against Bangladesh and the 25-year-old has achieved quite a lot in such a short time.
Smriti Mandhana has represented the Brisbane Heat in 2016, Hobart Hurricanes in 2018, and the Sydney Thunder in 2021. She has continued to represent the Trailblazers in the Women's T20 challenge since 2018.
She represented Southern Brave in the newly introduced The Hundred tournament.
Smriti Mandhana's overall T20 stats (includes International)
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | Highest score |
| 156 | 3803 | 27.96 | 128.83 | 114* |
Now let's have a look at her T20I records
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | Highest score | 100s/50s |
| 84 | 1971 | 25.93 | 120.84 | 86 | 0/14 |
This is enough evidence to show how great a batsman she is. The best part about her is that she still has a lot to achieve, and hopefully, we'll see her breaking more records and succeeding in her incessant efforts of making India proud.
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