India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana equalled the women’s world record with her 12th ODI century on Wednesday against Australia at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
Sent to bat first by the visitors, Mandhana continued her prolific scoring format, equalling the record for most women’s ODI centuries by an opener. The elegant southpaw equalled New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and England’s Tammy Beaumont with her 12th century in only 106 innings as an opener for India since her debut in 2013.
Mandhana cantered to her hundred in only 77 deliveries with a lofted six over mid-off, making it the second-fastest century by an Indian woman in ODIs, only behind her own 70-ball hundred against Ireland in Rajkot earlier this year in January.
Most Women’s ODI hundreds as opener
| Player | Span | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | 100s | 50 |
| Suzie Bates (NZ-W) | 2006-2025 | 130 | 5059 | 151 | 43.23 | 12 | 33 |
| Smriti Mandhana (IND-W) | 2013-2025 | 106 | 4724* | 136 | 47.42 | 12 | 33 |
| Tammy Beaumont (ENG-W) | 2012-2025 | 113 | 4460 | 168* | 42.47 | 12 | 23 |
| Charlotte Edwards (ENG-W) | 1997-2015 | 117 | 4048 | 173* | 37.83 | 9 | 30 |
| Hailey Matthews (WI-W) | 2014-2025 | 82 | 2678 | 141 | 34.77 | 9 | 6 |
With over 4700 runs at an average above 47, Mandhana is only second to Bates in tems of runs among all female openers. Overall, Mandhana stands joint-third on the ODI century-making list among women, with only Meg Lanning (15) and Bates (13) ahead of her.
Following her half-century in a losing effort in the first ODI Mandhana regained the No. 1 position in the most recent ICC ODI women’s batting rankings. Mandhana’s 58 runs from 63 balls in the first game of the three-match series in Mullanpur were ultimately futile, as Australia easily chased down the target, taking a 1-0 series lead.
No. 1 ranking and prime form
Mandhana will enter the home World Cup later this month on the back of her prime years in the white-ball circuit. In June, Mandhana cracked her maiden T20I hundred in England and in the process, became the first Indian to have tons in all formats of women’s cricket.
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Mandhana had finished the 2024 with a record for most runs in a calendar year, scoring 1,602 runs across all formats. She reached the milestone in 36 matches, with her highest score in 2024 being the 149 she scored against South Africa in the only Test in Chennai in June.
