Smriti Mandhana Becomes Women's Cricket's Leading International Run-Scorer

Smriti Mandhana has become the leading run-scorer in women's international cricket, passing former India captain Mithali Raj during India's Women's Asia Cup victory over Hong Kong, China, in Dubai. The International Cricket Council and BBC Sport reported that Mandhana reached the landmark while making 124 from 64 balls on Thursday, an innings that carried her career total to 10,880 runs across Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals.

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Raj's previous record stood at 10,868 runs. Mandhana began the match 112 runs short of that mark and went beyond it in the 18th over, when she struck three consecutive sixes. The 30-year-old left-hander finished 12 runs clear at the top of the all-time list after producing the highest T20I score of her career.

Mandhana's innings contained 14 fours and seven sixes and anchored India after they were asked to bat first. She and Shafali Verma put on 74 from 47 balls for the opening wicket, with Verma contributing 28. India ultimately reached 193 for five from their 20 overs, while Mandhana supplied well over half of the team's runs as the rest of the batting order struggled to build substantial scores.

Hong Kong, China, could not mount a successful chase, and India completed a 137-run victory. Deepti Sharma led India's bowling effort with three wickets for nine runs, while Nandani Sharma, Prema Rawat and Shree Charani took two wickets each. The result was India's second successive win in the competition and left the team at the top of Group A, according to the ICC.

The century also gave Mandhana another career record. It was her 18th hundred across international formats, moving her beyond former Australia captain Meg Lanning and South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, who had each made 17. It was Mandhana's second T20I century, following her first in the format last year, and added to hundreds she had already scored in Tests and ODIs.

Mandhana made her India debut in 2013 and has now overtaken a player she has described as a role model. She said after the match that she had not known the precise record position while batting and dedicated the achievement to her family. India's next Asia Cup group match is against Pakistan on Saturday, when Mandhana will begin the game as the new benchmark for career runs in women's international cricket.