
New Delhi, Nov 7: India woman opener Smriti Mandhana entered her name in the record books as she overtook Virat Kohli to complete 2000 runs in ODI format.
Playing against West Indies in the second ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the talented left-hundred batter from Mumbai achieved the milestone as India hammered the Windies women by six wickets.
Mandhana took 51 innings to reach the milestone and became the third-fastest woman after Australia's Belinda Clark and Meg Lanning.
What makes the milestone special is that Mandhana played two innings less than India's batting masterclass Virat Kohli. Kohli took 53 innings to reach 2000 runs. Shikhar Dhawan, 48 innings, is the fastest male cricketer from India to reach 2000 ODI runs.
Mandhana (23) has scored four centuries and 17 fifties till now in her ODI career. So far, she has scored 2,025 runs in 51 ODIs and averages 43.08.
Former South Africa cricketer Hashim Amla holds the distinction of being the fastest to 2,000-ODI runs. He had achieved the landmark in 40 innings.
Earlier on Wednesday (November 6), Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues hit contrasting half-centuries to lead the team to a 2-1 series victory over the West Indies with a comfortable six-wicket win in the deciding third ODI in Antigua.
Mandhana, who missed the first two matches of the series due to a toe injury, smashed a 63-ball 74 and raised a match-winning 141-run partnership with fellow opener Rodrigues (69 off 92) on Wednesday night. A solid foundation in place, India cruised to the 195-run target in 42.1 overs after the Indian bowlers did a commendable job of bowling out the hosts for a sub-par 194 in exact 50 overs.
Mandhana was her usual aggressive self, punishing the West Indies bowlers with nine shots to the fence and three over the ropes. It was her first ODI since the home series against England in February and third half-century in a row, having scored 63 and 66 against the British team in Mumbai.