Visakhapatnam, Oct 12: Smriti Mandhana etched her name in cricketing history on Saturday, becoming the fastest woman to reach 5,000 runs in One-Day Internationals during India’s 2025 World Cup clash against Australia in Visakhapatnam.
Asked to bat first after Australian skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss, India’s opening pair of Mandhana and Pratika Rawal began cautiously, adding 26 runs in the first seven overs.
The duo soon shifted gears, plundering 32 runs off the next three overs to seize early momentum.
During this phase, Mandhana reached two remarkable milestones. She became the first woman to score 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year when she lofted left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux for a majestic six over long-on.
Soon after, she brought up her first half-century of the tournament off 46 balls, before achieving the landmark 5,000-run mark in style with another six — this time off Kim Garth. The Indian vice-captain reached the milestone in her 112th innings, shattering the previous women’s record held by West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor, who had achieved it in 129 innings.
Impressively, across both men’s and women’s cricket, Mandhana now stands third-fastest to the mark — behind only Pakistan’s Babar Azam (97 innings) and South Africa’s Hashim Amla (101 innings).
In doing so, Mandhana also eclipsed Indian great Virat Kohli’s record, who had reached 5,000 ODI runs in 114 innings — the same as West Indian legends Viv Richards and Shai Hope.Mandhana’s sparkling 80-run knock ended when she was caught after a commanding 155-run opening partnership, but by then, she had already carved another golden chapter in Indian cricket’s history. (Agencies)
