Smriti Mandhana becomes fastest to breach 10,000 international run-mark

India star opener Smriti Mandhana became the fastest woman player to cross the 10,000 international-run landmark in terms of innings played. The 29-year-old reached the milestone in 281 innings during her team's fourth T20I against Sri Lanka at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, December 28.

Mithali Raj (291 innings), Charlotte Edwards (308 innings), and Suzie Bates (314 innings) are the other three women who are part of the 10,000 international runs club. In terms of run aggregate, Raj tops the list with 10,868 runs followed by Bates (10,652 runs), Edwards (10,273 runs), and Mandhana (10,053 runs).

The southpaw achieved another milestone in the ongoing series, crossing the 4000-run mark in T20Is. The aggressive opener became only the second woman player to join the club with Kiwi veteran Bates already there with 4716 runs. Mandhana, to note, has 4102 runs to her name with 32 fifties and a lone century.

Meanwhile, the star batter, who was 27 runs away from the 10,000-run landmark before Sunday's match, reached it when she drove left-arm spinner Nimasha Meepage to long-on for a single in the seventh over of the first innings.

The Sangli girl was on fire as she combined with swashbuckling batter Shafali Verma to create the highest partnership (162 runs) for any wicket for India in T20Is. Notably, the duo broke their own record of 143 runs which was set against the West Indies in 2019. In fact, the Mandhana-Verma pair also holds the third place on the list with a 137-run partnership against Australia in 2024.

In the fourth T20I, Mandhana ended up scoring 80 runs off 48 balls, an innings laced with 11 fours and three sixes. The Indian batters dominated the Lankans, setting them a huge target of 222. The bowlers, in response, kept their cool and took their team home by 30 runs.

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Mandhana is going through a purple patch this year. The opener became the first woman to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year, also becoming the top-scorer in the format with 1362 runs in 2025. The elegant batter scored five ODI centuries during the year, equalling the tally of South African duo Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits.