Smriti Mandhana Creates History For India With 7th ODI Century Against South Africa

India women's cricket team opener Smriti Mandhana has set a new record during the second ODI against South Africa in Bengaluru on Wednesday (June 20). Mandhana scored 136 runs off 120 balls, helping India post a substantial total.

In the first game, Mandhana scored 117 off 127 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and a six, propelling India to 265 for eight. No other batter scored more than 40.

On Wednesday, she continued her form, scoring another century to help India post 325 runs. The 27-year-old played a fluent knock and hit 18 fours and 2 sixes in her impressive display of batting. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur also scored an unbeaten century as she racked up 103 runs in just 88 balls.

With this performance, Mandhana has become the first Indian woman cricketer to score consecutive tons in ODIs, following Sandhya Agarwal in 1986 during a Test series against England.

The knock also matched former India captain Mithali Raj's record for most centuries in the ODIs as both now have seven centuries to their names. They are 10th on the all-time list, with Australia's Meg Lanning leading with 15 tons in the format.

This was Mandhana's highest-ever knock in ODIs, surpassing her previous best of 135 against South Africa in 2018. Her innings is now the fourth-highest individual score by an Indian batter in women's ODIs and the third-highest by an opener.