Bengaluru, June 23: In-form opener Smriti Mandhana created history on Sunday after smashing 90 runs against South Africa in the third ODI to record the most runs by an Indian woman in the bilateral ODI series. Mandhana amassed 343 runs in the three-match series as she continued her dominating run in the final match following consecutive centuries in the first two games. She broke former India batter Jaya Sharma’s record of 308 runs in five innings against New Zealand in 2003-04.
The left-handed batter became the first Indian woman to achieve the feat of scoring back-to-back centuries. She missed out on becoming the second player in the world to hit three successive hundred in ODI format. Currently, Mandhana is the second-highest run-getter in the ODIs for India with 3585 runs including seven centuries and 25 fifties. Opting to bat first, captain Laura Wolvaardt’s 61 couple with Tazmin Brits’ 38 guided them to 215/8 in 50 overs. For India, Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy bagged two scalps each while Shreyanka Patil and Pooja Vastrakar bagged one dismissal apiece.
In the chase, Harmanpreet Kaur contributed 42 while Jemimah Rodrigues remained unbeaten on 19 as India went over the line in style with Richa Ghosh’s six over long-on. India whitewashed South Africa 3-0 with a six-wicket win in 40.4 overs.