Smriti Mandhana slayed a host of records in her 64-ball 124 as India marched into the Women’s Asia Cup final with a dominating 137-run win over Hong Kong in Dubai on Thursday. India raced to 193 for five following a second T20 hundred from Mandhana, who also surpassed Mithali Raj (10868 runs) to become the leading run-getter in Women’s Internationals and Meg Lanning for most hundreds (18) across formats. The wide gulf between India and Hong Kong, playing their first Asia Cup since 2012, was clearly visible as the latter struggled to 16 for one in the powerplay, effectively putting the stiff target out of their reach. Hong Kong eventually ended at 56 all out in 16.2 overs.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur (10 off 9) and Richa Ghosh (11 off 13) perished while attempting an aerial stroke.
“I didn’t know all of this happened,” said Mandhana when informed about her record breaking effort. Having said that, I just love batting, and I’m happy that I could contribute. In the following over, Mandhana plundered a couple of sixes down the ground to go past Mithali Raj in the leading run scorers’ chart. As she often does, Mandhana scored runs all around the ground and was at her regal self while hitting sixes over the bowler’s head. “It’s really hard for me to play slower bowlers, but credit to them. They were really disciplined in the powerplay. They bowled pretty well, and the kind of energy they showed was something which we all can learn from.
