Mithali Raj Surpasses Virat Kohli, Martin Guptill and Babar Azam After Scoring 17th Half-Century During India vs Ireland, ICC T20 Women’s Cricket World Cup 2018

India beat Ireland yesterday by 52 runs in the Group B tie at the ongoing ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in West Indies. With this, the Women in Blue qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament. Lion’s share of India’s success goes to Mithali Raj who scored her 17^th half-century and broke records. Just after surpassing Rohit Sharma the 35-year-old has surpassed Pakistan’s Babar Azam and New Zealand’s Martin Guptill. She also went on to be the highest scorer in India in T20s surpassing Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and others. India vs Ireland, ICC Women's T20 World Cup Video Highlights: Indian Spinners Help the Team Beat Ireland by 52 Runs; Women in Blue Qualify for Semis. 

Mithali with the 51 run knock, the former Indian skipper went on to leave behind Martin Guptill, who is the highest scorer in the T20Is amongst the men. However, she is still three places away from being the highest scorer in world cricket. Mithali Raj stand behind standing behind Suzie Bates (2961), Stafanie Taylor (2691) and Charlotte Edwards (2605). ICC Women’s T20I World Cup 2018 Points Table & Team Standings: India Climbs To Second Spot in Group B Rankings; Books Semi-Final Place After 52-Run Win Over Ireland!

The official account of the ICC hailed her for being the highest scorer in India. So far Mithali Raj has made 2283 runs. “Mithali Raj tops an illustrious list of India's most prolific T20I run-scorers 💪🇮🇳 1️⃣ @M_Raj03 2️⃣ @ImRo45 3️⃣ @imVkohli 4️⃣ @ImHarmanpreet 5️⃣ @ImRaina 6️⃣ @msdhoni.”

With her 17th T20I fifty, she also managed to surpass Bates, Alyssa Healy and Pakistan's Babar Azam to have the most 50-plus scores in a calendar year combining both men's and women's cricketer. After the match, Mithali Raj she said that her partnership with Smriti Mandhana was important.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 16, 2018 12:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).