Superstar India women’s national cricket team opening batsman Smriti Mandhana has created history with her stellar performance in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
Smriti Mandhana has become the Indian woman player to score the most runs in a single edition of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Smriti Mandhana missed half century
As expected, Mandhana has been the best batsman for India in the ongoing edition of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. The left-handed batsman had a poor start to the tournament, but he started to step up with the bat whenever needed.
After registering low scores consistently, he scored consecutive 80s against Australia and England before scoring a brilliant century against New Zealand.
In the semi-finals, Smriti scored 24 against Australia Women and narrowly missed her half-century in the final at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai.
Opening the innings with Shafali Verma, she looked amazing in the middle as they stitched a 104-run partnership. This was the first time in history that an Indian opening pair made a century opening partnership in a World Cup knockout game, combining men’s and women’s cricket.
Additionally, Smriti and Shafali became the second pair to put on a century partnership in a Women’s World Cup final after Rachael Haynes and Alyssa Healy added 160 runs against England in the 2022 edition.
Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana’s struggles against left-arm spinners continued as Chloe Tryon dismissed her for 45 runs in 58 balls on the fourth ball of the 18th over. Although Smriti missed a half-century, she managed to become the highest run-scorer for India in an edition of the Women’s World Cup.
Most runs for Indian women in a single edition of the World Cup:
434 – Smriti Mandhana (2025)
409 – Mithali Raj (2017)
381 – Punam Raut (2017)
359 – Harmanpreet Kaur (2017)
327 – Smriti Mandhana (2022)
World Cup is always special, but the fun of home World Cup is something else – Smriti Mandhana
While talking on JioHotstar before the match, Smriti Mandhana said that playing the home World Cup is very special and a dream for the players.
“The World Cup is always special – but the home World Cup is completely different. I remember going to the stadium a few months ago for an ad shoot and standing on the balcony thinking, ‘How amazing would it be if we win here on the 2nd?’ Now, that dream is within reach. Mandhana said on ‘Follow the Blues’, our focus as a team is to leave everything behind.
“Whatever happened in the past or in the semi-finals, give 100% in the final. Everyone is being meticulous in their preparations, whether in the gym or in training. As a player, it is in our hands how we prepare. I know a lot of dreams across India are attached to this final, and we will try our best to make those dreams come true – because the fans will live those moments through our eyes,” he said.
Smriti also revealed that her only goal in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 was to play for the team and not focus on achieving individual achievements.
Mandhana said, “In this World Cup, my only goal was to do what the team needed from me. In the past, I had come up with individual goals – wanted to score specific runs or achieve certain milestones – but things rarely go according to plan. This time, my intention was very clear: to focus on preparation and execution rather than numbers.”
“Personally, the only statistic I want to see is ‘India wins the 2025 World Cup.’ This is what will matter most to me. As a batsman, I realized that you can’t overthink in cricket – it’s all about reacting to the ball. Whoever responds best that day will do well. So for me, it’s about staying calm, being present and contributing in whatever way the team needs,” he said.
Also read: After setting world record in World Cup final, Harmanpreet Kaur gets a fond farewell from Nonkululeko Mlaba
