Star India batter Smriti Mandhana broke her six-year-old record to guide India to a historic series win over Australia on Saturday, 21 February, at Adelaide Oval. Mandhana guided India to a competitive total of 176/6 in the series-deciding third T20I, playing a magnificent innings of 82 off 55 balls, striking eight fours and three sixes. She stitched together a crucial partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues for the second wicket.
Mandhana brought up her 33rd T20I half-century and added 121 runs for the second wicket off 82 balls alongside Rodrigues, who scored 59 off 46 deliveries. During her innings, the India opener also broke her own six-year-old record to register the highest individual score by an Indian batter in Australia.
The left-hander had previously scored 66 off 37 balls at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2020 and surpassed that effort in the third T20I against Australia. Meanwhile, Mandhana also registered her eighth fifty-plus score against Australia, extending her record for the most such scores by an Indian batter against the Aussies.
The India opener got off the mark on the fourth delivery of her innings with a boundary but lost her partner Shafali Verma, who managed 7 off 6 balls, in the third over. She then took on Sophie Molineux in the final over of the powerplay, striking her for three boundaries to move into the twenties. Mandhana brought up her half-century in 38 balls with a maximum off Darcie Brown.
Mandhana quickly shifted gears and looked well on course to bring up her second T20I century, but was eventually caught at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Annabel Sutherland. In the second innings, Australia were restricted to 159/9 in their allotted 20 overs with Shreyanka Patil (3/22) and Shree Charani (3/32) taking three wickets each. As a result, India won the match by 17 runs and sealed the series by 2-1 as Mandhana was deservedly adjudged Player of the Match.
