Heartbreak for Smriti Mandhana: 28-Year Record Slips Away

Colombo (The Uttam Hindu): India's star batsman Smriti Mandhana fell just short of a historic world record in the 2025 Women's World Cup clash against Pakistan. Mandhana had a golden opportunity to break Australia's legendary batsman Blenda Clark's 28-year-old record, but she was dismissed for 23.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won the toss and invited India to bat first. India suffered their first blow when Smriti Mandhana was dismissed LBW by captain Fatima Sana for 23 runs off 32 balls. She even took a review, but the decision was not overturned.

Before this match, Mandhana was just 12 runs away from breaking the record for most runs in a calendar year in women's ODI cricket. This record was held by Australia's Blenda Clark, who scored 970 runs in 1997. Mandhana has now scored 959 runs in 2025. Had she scored 12 more runs today, she would have achieved this feat.

However, Smriti Mandhana has a great chance to break this record in the upcoming World Cup matches. She has been in tremendous form in 2025 and previously scored two centuries in the ODI series against Australia. Since her ODI debut in 2013, Mandhana has scored 4919 runs in 110 matches, including 13 centuries.