Smriti Mandhana Makes History by Becoming First Female Cricketer to Cross 1,000 ODI Runs in a Calendar Year 

Thanks to standout innings by Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal, India Women posted a challenging first innings total of 330 runs vs. Australia.

Smriti Mandhana Makes History by Becoming First Female Cricketer to Cross 1,000 ODI Runs in a Calendar Year 

Smriti Mandhana etched her name in history book by for scoring over 1,000 runs in ODIs in a calendar year. (via India Today)

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Ace India opener Smriti Mandhana etched her name in history books, after becoming the first female cricketer to score 1,000 runs in ODIs in a calendar year. Mandhana achieved this unique milestone in India’s group stage match against Australia at the 2025 Women’s World Cup.

Smriti Mandhana needed 18 runs to make it to the historic milestone of 1,000 ODI runs by a female player in a year, when she stepped onto the pitch to open innings alongside Pratika Rawal. The ICC World No. 1-ranked ODI batter had a subdued WC campaign leading up to this match, having scored only 54 runs in three previous group stage matches. However, she found her blistering form against Australia.

Mandhana achieved the 1,000 run objective by hitting a six off Sophie Molineux‘s bowling in the eighth over. She has started off the day on 982 runs in a year, having already moved past former Australian batter Belinda Clark’s 1997 tally of 970 runs in W-ODIs in a year. Mandhana had surpassed Clark’s 28-year-old record in India’s previous World Cup group-stage match against South Africa.

Coming back to the match against Australia, Mandhana finished her innings with a stellar 80 runs off just 66 deliveries, hitting nine boundaries and three maximums. She also became the fastest player to reach 5,000 runs in women’s ODIs, in just 112 innings.

The 29-year-old is only the fifth batter in history to do so, joining an elite list that includes Mithali Raj (7,805 runs), Charlotte Edwards (5,992 runs), Suzie Bates (5,925 runs), and Stefanie Taylor (5,873 runs).

In her historic 2025 calendar year, Mandhana now boasts 1,062 runs in 18 innings at an average of 59, including four hundreds and four fifties. Prior to the start of the 2025 Women’s World Cup, she had also notched up two successive hundreds in a three-match W-ODI series against Australia, which included a century that came off just 50 deliveries, setting a new record for the fastest by a female Indian player. 

Mandhana was dismissed by Molineux in the 25th over, falling 20 runs short of what would have been her fifth hundred of the year. Meanwhile, her opening partner Pratika Rawal, who scored 75 off 96 deliveries, is also close to the 1,000-run milestone this year, needing just 152 more runs. 

Smriti Mandhana & Pratika Rawal set record as first opening pair to achieve feat against Australia

The much-successful Indian ODI opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal became the first to register a partnership of over 150 runs against Australia Women. Mandhana and Rawal notched up an impressive 155-run stand, during their ongoing WC group stage encounter against Australia. 

Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal opening
The Indian ODI opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal brought up the first-ever 150+ runs opening stand against Australia. (via Mint)

The Indian opening pair broke the previous record of 119 runs, which was set by former English openers Caroline Atkins and Sarah Taylor back in 2009. Smriti Mandhana contributed with 80 runs off 66 balls, while Pratika Rawal supported her with 64 runs off 81 balls, to bring up the highest opening stand against Australia in a W-ODI. It also marked their second 100-run stand against the same opposition in a year. 

Prior to the start of the World Cup, India and Australia competed in a three-match W-ODI series. In that series, Rawal and Mandhana had stitched a 114-run opening stand in the first ODI. Additionally, the duo has now surpassed the Indian record for the most 100-plus run opening partnerships in Women’s ODIs, moving past the previous record of five centuries set by the pair of Jaya Sharma and Anju Jain.

It remains to be seen what lies ahead for the two openers and the Indian Women’s team, aiming to lift the Women’s World Cup title for the first time. After the match against Australia, the Women in Blue next face England on October 19, followed by matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh. 

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