Smriti Mandhana writes the history, she becomes the number 1 female cricketer in this aspect

India opener Smriti Mandhana broke a world record with a brilliant knock during the first ODI of the series against West Indies in Vadodara. He was in great form during the match, but missed out on a well-deserved hundred.

After this innings, he completed 1600 runs in international cricket in 2024. It is a great achievement for the left-hander as he surpassed South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt who has scored 1593 runs this year.

Read also: Rohit Sharma & Co. issued a warning “Steve Smith to make double hundred” before the MCG Test

Smriti Mandhana breaks the world record

Mandhana has 1,602 runs to her name this year in international cricket currently, which is the most by a women’s international cricket batsman in a calendar year in history. Interestingly, Mandhana was already among the top five batsmen in this list after scoring the most runs in 2018 and 2022.

It’s the third time he’s made the list that shows his batting consistency. Apart from her, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt are also on this list.

With two more ODIs to be played this year against the same opposition, Mandhana is expected to add more runs to his tally. He has been extremely consistent in India’s top order over the years.

Before the ongoing series against West Indies, Mandhana also had an excellent series against South Africa where he smashed 343 runs in three ODIs at an average of 114.33 and a strike rate of 103.93 . He scored two hundreds and a fifty in the entire series.

Most international runs in a year in women’s cricket

1. Smriti Mandhana (India): 1602 runs in 2024
2. Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa) – 1593 races by 2024
3. Nat Sciver-Brunt (England) – 1346 runs in 2022
4. Smriti Mandhana (India): 1291 runs in 2018
5. Smriti Mandhana (India): 1290 runs in 2022

Mandhana now has the MOST women’s international runs in a year.

3 times in the top 5!

1602 – Mandhana🇮🇳 in 2024
1593 – Laura Wolvaardt🇿🇦 in 2024
1346 – Nat Sciver-Brunt🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in 2022
1291 – Smriti Mandhana🇮🇳 in 2018
1290 – Smriti Mandhana🇮🇳 in 2022#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/QxWDHyk5Ve

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) December 22, 2024

India rack up a big score in Vadodara

Meanwhile, West Indies won the toss and chose to play on a good batting surface in Vadodara. India started cautiously with debutant Pratika Rawal and Mandhana looking to preserve wickets.

India got lucky with some dropped catches from the West Indies, but Rawal’s luck ran out and he was eventually dismissed for 40 off 49 balls. Harleen Deol came in at number 3 and made a good partnership with Mandhana.

Mandhana looked in sublime touch once he got on and smashed the bowlers with utter ease all over the ground. He looked good for a century but was dismissed by left-arm spinner Zaida James as he tried to row behind the wicket.

But skipper Harmanpreet Kaur didn’t let the momentum slow down and smashed a quickfire 34 off 23 balls. Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues made fiery cameos down the order to take India to an important total of 314-9 in 50 overs.