The Indian captain hadn’t had the most prolific tours of England but came good in the final match on Tuesday, and how. Harmanpreet Kaur smashed a stunning 82-ball century at Riversie Ground in Chester-le-Street in the third and final ODI of the series – a decider too – to bring up her 7th ton in the format in a knock that was a reminder of her ability to accelerate through an innings like few others can after starting off slow.
During the course of her century, Harmanpreet brought up a few other milestones. She started the day on 3967 runs in the format and became the third Indian batter to cross the 4,000-run milestone after Mithali Raj (the all-time leading runscorer in the format with 7,805 runs) and Smriti Mandhana (4588 runs and counting). She is also the 17th batter overall to achieve the feat in women’s ODIs.
Her century also took her level with Mithali’s career tally of 7, with only Smriti Mandhana having scored more among Indian batters, comfortably leading the way at 11.
The Indian captain eventually fell for a 84-ball 102 after taking her side past 300. After getting caught by Nat Sciver-Brunt off Lindsey Smith’s bowling in the 49th over, the England players gathered around her Harmanpreet to congratulate her for a strike-filled knock during which she hit 14 fours.
Harmanpreet does love batting in England as well against England. This was her third century in the country, with one of those coming against Australia famously in the 2017 World Cup semifinal when she smashed an incredible 171*. Her other century in England against the hosts came during the last tour in 2022 when she scored an equally breathtaking 111-ball 143* in Canterbury. The 82-ball century is also the second fastest record by an Indian woman in this format, and fastest among the seven she has scored.
The 36-year-old Indian stalwart now has as many centuries in England as she does in India, with one other coming in New Zealand.
After opting to bat first, India romped home to 318/5 in their allotted 50 overs, with a century partnership for the fourth wicket between Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues the highlight of the afternoon. India and England are level 1-1 in the three-match series, after the visitors won the opening match in Southampton, followed by a win for the hosts at Lord’s on Saturday.
