Smriti Mandhana, one of the finest batters of the modern era, etched her name in women cricket history when she took the field for India in their one-off Test against England at Lord’s on Friday. Mandhana became
the youngest ever player in women cricket history to appear in 300 or more games at international level.
She achieved the milestone of 300 international matches at the age of 28 years and 357 days. The left-handed batter has played 9 Tests, 120 ODIs and 171 T20s so far in her career.
Overall, Mandhana is the 12th women cricketer to have played 300 matches in international career. She is the third Indian women to do so after Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj.
The one-off game between India and England is also the first ever women’s Test to be played at Lord’s, also known as the ‘Home of Cricket’.
Mandhana marked the occasion with a fine effort with the bat but missed out on a historic century by 17 runs. Her 83 were vital in Indian team’s recovery from early blows after they were put in to bat first by England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.
