Smriti Mandhana becomes No. 1 T20I run-scorer across men’s and women’s cricket
Smriti Mandhana has reached another major milestone in her career, becoming the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket across both men’s and women’s cricket.
The India vice-captain achieved the feat during the Asian Games semifinal against Bangladesh at Korogi Sports Park on Sunday. Mandhana needed just eight runs before the match to move past former New Zealand batter Suzie Bates, and she crossed the mark early in her innings.
Mandhana eventually made 37 off 19 balls, taking her T20I tally to 4,788 runs from 171 innings.
Mandhana moves past Suzie Bates
Mandhana began the semifinal with 4,751 T20I runs, while Bates had 4,758. Her early boundary-filled start was enough to take her past the New Zealand great and put her alone at the top of the overall T20I run-scoring chart.
The top five run-scorers in T20I cricket across the men's and women's game are now:
- Smriti Mandhana – 4,788 runs
- Suzie Bates – 4,758 runs
- Babar Azam – 4,596 runs
- Jos Buttler – 4,292 runs
- Harmanpreet Kaur – 4,287 runs
The achievement puts Mandhana ahead of the leading run-scorers from men's T20I cricket as well, with Pakistan's Babar Azam currently third on the overall list.
Another major record for Smriti Mandhana
The T20I milestone comes soon after another landmark achievement for Mandhana.
During the Asia Cup, she became the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket, moving past former India captain Mithali Raj's tally of 10,868 runs. Mandhana also struck a century against Hong Kong during the tournament, taking her tally of international hundreds to 18.
That moved her past former Australia captain Meg Lanning for the most centuries in women's international cricket at the time. South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt later equalled the record.
India eye another Asian Games gold
Mandhana's record came as India faced Bangladesh in the Asian Games women's cricket semifinal.
India entered the knockout stage looking to retain the gold medal they won at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. The Indian team had reached the semifinal after defeating hosts Japan in the quarterfinal.
With IANS inputs