Smriti Mandhana scored 327 runs in seven innings in the World Cup and was the top run-scorer for India
The ICC Women’s World Cup concluded last week with Australia beating England in the final. Alyssa Healy was the star of the final, smashing a stunning century and despite Nat Sciver’s exceptional ton in the chase, England fell short of the target. As far as India is concerned, it wasn’t a great tournament for them as they couldn’t make it to the semi-final.
They were close to beating South Africa in a must-win encounter but a no-ball from Deepti Sharma led to their undoing and were knocked out of the competition. However, there were some sparkling performances from the players that stood out. Opener Smriti Mandhana ended the World Cup as India’s highest run-scorer amassing 327 runs in seven innings at an average of 46.71 with a hundred and two fifties to her name.
Quite the fad among India’s women cricketers, Smriti Mandhana is associated with Rario, the Cricket NFT Platform, and her exclusive NFTs will be up for sale on Rario..
Here we look at each of her knocks in the tournament.
India began their campaign against Pakistan and Smriti provided a perfect start to the team. Opening the innings, scored 52 runs off 75 deliveries with three fours and a six to her name. After losing Shafali Verma early, she stitched a decent partnership of 92 runs with Deepti Sharma. Just when it felt that she would switch gears and convert it to a big score, Smriti Mandhana was undone by Anam Amin.
New Zealand had posted 260 runs in their 50 overs after being invited to bat first and India needed a good start from their openers to chase the score down. But Smriti Mandhana couldn’t get off the blocks at all in this game. White Ferns’ new ball bowlers kept their quiet and eventually the pressure got to her as she was dismissed by Jess Kerr. Smriti scored only 6 runs off 21 deliveries in the steep chase.
Smriti Mandhana was at her best in this game vs West Indies. She slammed a scintillating century scoring 123 runs off just 119 deliveries with 13 fours and two sixes. Her partnership of 184 runs with Harmanpreet Kaur was one of the best in the World Cup as well. On the back of their knocks, India managed to post 317 runs on the board and then won the game easily. Smriti, associated with Rario, the Cricket NFT Platform, was also awarded the player of the match for her innings.
India experienced a collapse in this game after being invited to bat first. None of the top six batters apart from Smriti Mandhana could cross the 14-run mark. She held one end well to score 35 runs with 4 fours but eventually got out when India’s score was 71 to end all the hopes of posting a decent total on the board. India got bowled out for 134 runs and lost the match by four wickets.
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Smriti Mandhana endured a failure in this crucial encounter against Australia. After losing the toss, India lost their in-form opener early as she scored only 10 runs off 11 deliveries with Darcie Brown getting the better of her. Despite her low score, India managed to score 277 runs in their innings thanks to the trio of Mithali Raj, Yastika Bhatia and Harmanpreet Kaur who scored fifties.
Smriti Mandhana smartly played second fiddle in this game with her opening partner Shafali Verma going all guns blazing. Smriti scored 30 runs off 51 deliveries with three fours and stitched a 74-run opening stand with Verma in just 15 overs. India posted 229 runs with the bat before defending it easily and winning by 110 runs.
This was a must-win encounter for India and Smriti Mandhana made sure she played a role in providing the team with a good start. The southpaw smashed 71 runs off 84 balls with 6 fours and a six. She also stitched a quickfire 91-run partnership with Shafali Verma in just 15 overs. On the back of her knock, India amassed 274 runs in their 50 overs. But unfortunately lost the game in the final over and got knocked out of the tournament.
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