Smriti Mandhana becomes fourth batter to cross 10,000 runs in women’s internationals

India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has become only the fourth player to score more than 10,000 runs in women’s international cricket, reaching the milestone during the fourth T20I against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Mandhana, who was 27 runs short before the match, brought up the landmark when she drove left-arm spinner Nimasha Meepage to long-on for a single. She is the second Indian to achieve the feat after former captain Mithali Raj, who tops the list with 10,868 runs. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (10,652) and England’s Charlotte Edwards (10,273) are the other players ahead of Mandhana.

The 28-year-old is also the fastest to reach 10,000 international runs in the women’s game, achieving the mark in her 281st innings across formats. Raj took 291 innings, while Edwards and Bates needed 308 and 314 innings respectively.

The milestone crowns a remarkable year for Mandhana. During India’s victorious Women’s World Cup campaign, which concluded last month, she became the first woman to score 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. She finished the year as the leading run-scorer in the format with 1,362 runs, well ahead of South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, who scored 1,174.

Mandhana also struck five ODI centuries this year, a tally matched only by South Africa’s Tazmin Brits and Wolvaardt. Earlier in the Sri Lanka series, she became just the second player to cross 4,000 runs in women’s T20Is, with only Suzie Bates, on 4,716 runs, ahead of her in the format’s all-time run charts.