Smriti Mandhana Creates History, Beats Legendary New Zealand Batter To Set New World Record

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Smriti Mandhana, India's batter and stand-in captain etched her name in the record books on Tuesday, December 17, by becoming the first batter in women's T20I history to score 29 half-centuries.

Smriti surpassed the iconic New Zealand batter Suzie Bates' previous record of 28 fifties during the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series against the West Indies at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.

After Bates, this list is completed by the likes of Beth Mooney, Stafanie Taylor and Sophie Devine.

The 28-year-old Mandhana stands as the second-highest run-scorer in women's T20Is, following behind Suzie Bates, who remains far ahead of anyone else on that list.

In the 2nd T20I match, wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh provided some support to Mandhana with a quick 32 off 17 balls in the middle order. However, it was Mandhana who did the bulk of the scoring, leading the innings with an impressive 62 off 41 balls amidst an otherwise underwhelming batting effort from India.

For the West Indies, the opening duo of captain Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph made light work of the chase right from the powerplay. Matthews remained unbeaten on 85 from just 47 balls, while Joseph blazed her way to 38 off 22 balls, guiding the visitors to a comfortable win with 26 balls to spare.

The third and the final T20I will also take place at the same venue on 19th Dec, Thursday. With the series locked at 1-1, it's anybody's game from here on to clinch the series.

Speaking of Mandhana's T20I career, she has so far notched up 3684 runs in Women's T20Is with a highest score of 87 and an average of 29. She has 9 centuries in ODIs and 2 in Tests, but yet to achieve one, when it comes to the shortest format of the game. She is also the first Indian captain to lead a Royal Challengers Bengaluru team to win the Women's Premier League (WPL).