Sports Desk. The first match of the three-match ODI series between the women’s cricket team of India and South Africa is being played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In this match, India’s star batsman Smriti Mandhana scored her sixth century of her ODI career and seventh century of her overall international career in 116 balls. Thanks to Mandhana’s innings, India scored 265 runs in 50 overs by losing eight wickets and set a target of 266 runs for South Africa.
Let us tell you that in this match, Mandhana played an innings of 117 runs with the help of 12 fours and a six on 127 balls. During this, her strike rate was 92.13. At one point during the match, Team India had lost five wickets at 99, but Smriti handled the innings and scored a century to take the team to a score of 265 runs. Apart from Mandhana, Deepti was out after playing an innings of 37 runs with the help of three fours in 48 balls. At the same time, Pooja played an unbeaten innings of 31 runs with the help of three fours in 42 balls.
For South Africa, Ayabonga Khaka took three wickets, while Masabat Klaas got two wickets. Meanwhile, Aneri Dirksen, Nonukululeko Mlaba and Nondumiso Shangase got one wicket each.
Mandhana scores first ODI century in India
It is worth noting that this century against Africa is also Smriti Mandhana’s first ODI century at home. Before this, Mandhana had scored all her five ODI centuries on foreign soil. Mandhana scored her first ODI century in 2016 against Australia. This match was in the early days of her career and she impressed everyone with her brilliant innings. After this, Mandhana once again proved her ability by scoring her second century against West Indies in 2017.
Smriti Mandhana’s ODI career continued to progress and in 2018 she scored her third century against South Africa. In this innings, she scored 135 runs in 129 balls with the help of 14 fours and a six. During this, her strike rate was 104.65.
In 2019, Mandhana scored her fourth ODI century against New Zealand, proving her excellent batting ability once again. After this, Mandhana achieved another important milestone in her ODI career by scoring her fifth century against West Indies in 2022.
It is worth noting that Mandhana has scored two centuries each in ODIs against West Indies and South Africa. These innings of hers have played an important role in helping the Indian women’s cricket team win many important matches.
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