Smriti Mandhana Birthday Special: Here's a Look at Indian Opener's Best Batting Performances
The southpaw grabbed a lot of limelight through her stellar performances in the ICC Women's World T20 in 2018. Mandhana scored 178 runs in five matches and was tournament's third-highest run aggregator. On the occasion of her birthday, let's have a look at some magnificent innings played by Smriti Mandhana on the cricket field
Indian eves opener Smriti Mandhana turns 23 on Thursday. Born on July 18, 1996, the Mumbai cricketer is a stalwart of Indian women’s cricket team and is considered as one of the best batswomen in the current generation. The number one ranked ODI batswoman rose through the ranks very quickly and is a nightmare for any bowler on her day. Happy Birthday Smriti Mandhana! From Skipping Science To Becoming Youngest Skipper - Here Are Five Interesting Things About the Left-Handed Indian Batswoman.
The southpaw grabbed a lot of limelight through stellar performances in the ICC Women's World T20 in 2018. Mandhana scored 178 runs in five matches and was tournament's third-highest run aggregator. Since then there was no looking back for the left-handed batswoman and she continued to pile up runs in international and Franchise cricket. On the occasion of her 23rd birthday, let's have a look at some magnificent innings played by Smriti Mandhana on the cricket field.
105* Against New Zealand
On Indian Women Tour of New Zealand in 2019, Smriti Mandhana went all guns blazing against the New Zealand bowlers on a tricky wicket of Napier and guided India to victory. New Zealand batting first, got bundled out for 192 and the pitch was looking tailor-made for the bowlers but the southpaw gave no chance to the Kiwis and India won the match by nine wickets.
135 Against South Africa
In the second ODI of three-match series in 2018, the Indian opener hit a fine hundred against South Africa. After missing out on a ton in the first ODI, Mandhana didn't put a foot wrong this time and toiled the Proteas bowlers to all parts of the ground to complete her century. The number one ranked ODI batswoman guided India to a mammoth total of 302 runs, which was way too much for the South African batting line up and won the match by 178 runs.
58 Against New Zealand
The southpaw created history against New Zealand in the first T20 international in 2019 tour. Mandhana smashed a fifty off 24 deliveries and recorded the fastest fifty in women's T20 internationals. Unfortunately, the 23-year-old didn't get much support from the other end and India lost the match by 23 runs
83 Against Australia
The Mumbai-born batswoman showed no mercy against the mighty Australian bowling line up in the all-important match of ICC Women's World T20 in 2018. Mandhana went after the Australian bowlers from the first ball and piled up a quickfire fifty on a bowling-friendly wicket. Mandhana guided India to a competitive score of 167 runs which was too much for the Australian batting line-up and India won the match by 48 runs.
90 Against Supernovas
Mandhana was at her best in the Women's T20 challenge 2019. She rained fours and sixes in a pitch where others struggled to put on the ball. Mandhana scored at one end but kept losing wickets at other end. However, The skipper guided the Trailblazers to a fighting target of 140 runs which the bowlers defended in the nailbiter.
So, these were some of the brilliant knocks played by the south-paw in her career. Mandhana was also recently felicitated with Arjuna Award for her brilliant performance in 22 yards. The 23-year-old will next feature in the KIA Super League 2019 and will want to put up a good show.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2019 08:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).