Smriti Mandhana scripted history at Asia Cup opener, surpassing Suzie Bates in international record

Smriti Mandhana overtakes Suzie Bates (Image: X) Smriti Mandhana might not have had an ideal outing with the bat, but the Indian opener created history during the Women’s Asia Cup clash against Thailand on Sunday. Mandhana’s first innings boundary took her international career tally to 10,756 runs, helping her overtake New Zealand great Suzie Bates (10,740) for second on the list of most runs in women’s international cricket.Mandhana scored 19 off 10 balls, hitting four boundaries before being run out trying for the second run.

Only Mithali Raj is ahead of us

Mandhana is now only behind former India captain Mithali Raj, who remains the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket with 10,868 runs. Mandhana’s tally includes 788 runs in Tests, 5,411 in ODIs and 4,557 in T20Is, further highlighting her remarkable consistency across formats.Most runs in women’s international cricket:Player CountryTotal RunsMithali RajIndia10,868Smriti MandhanaIndia10,756*Suzie BatesNew Zealand10,740Charlotte EdwardsEngland10,273Stafanie TaylorWest Indies10,007

The Indian set a target of 160 runs for Thailand

Shafali Verma’s explosive 64 off 36 balls helped India recover from a late batting collapse to post 159/9 against Thailand in the Women’s Asia Cup T20 Group A opener on Sunday. Shafali hit eight fours and three sixes in her blistering knock, while T20I debutant Pratika Rawal contributed 22 off 18 balls. Smriti Mandhana added 19, hitting four boundaries before being run out.India looked firmly in control at 108/2 but Thailand fought back brilliantly to reduce them to 137/9. Kranti Gaud then provided some late resistance with an unbeaten 15 to take India closer to the 160-run mark. In Thailand, Suleeporn Laomi was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3/26, while Sunida Chaturongrattana took 2/31.