Smriti Mandhana made history by becoming the fastest Indian to register an ODI century, breaking Virat Kohli’s long-standing record in the third one-day international against Australia in New Delhi on Saturday.
Graceful opener Mandhana reached her century in just 50 balls, two deliveries faster than Kohli, who needed 52 balls to achieve his hundred, smashing seven sixes and eight fours. Kohli, the former Indian captain, had also achieved the feat against Australia on October 16, 2013 at Jaipur.
Smriti’s knock is the second fastest women’s ODI hundred, going past former Australian batter Karen Rolton’s record (off 57 balls) made in 2000-01 against South Africa.
With a 45-ball century against New Zealand in the 2012–13 season, former Australian captain Meg Lanning tops the list of fastest century makers in women’s ODI cricket.
The 29-year-old left-hander Mandhana destroyed her previous record of a hundred in 70 balls with her 50-ball effort, which featured 14 fours and four sixes.
Mandhana also became the first woman batter to hit four ODI centuries in a calendar year for India, a feat she first achieved in 2024. The only other player to do so is South Africa’s Tazmin Brits.
She is also only the second batter, after Australian Tammy Beaumont, to score consecutive hundreds in women’s ODIs twice.
With four tons in a row from 2016 to 2017, Amy Satterthwaite of New Zealand holds the record for the most consecutive hundreds in women’s ODI.
