Smriti Mandhana for India - (Source: AP Photos)
After a two-hour rain delay, the much-awaited Women's World Cup 2025 final between India and South Africa finally commenced at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The visitors won the toss and asked India to bat first.
The Women in Blue got off to a flying start as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma stitched an unbeaten fifty-run stand. Meanwhile, Mandhana, who is having a fine tournament, scripted history as the southpaw went past legend Mithali Raj for this feat.
Mandhana goes past Mithali Raj
Mandhana has amassed 416 runs and counting in nine innings in this Women's World Cup and has taken her tally beyond Mithali Raj, who scored 409 runs in the 2017 edition.
Here is the complete list of the most runs for India in a single edition of the Women's World Cup
- 416 – Smriti Mandhana (2025)*
- 409 – Mithali Raj (2017)
- 381 – Punam Raut (2017)
- 359 – Harmanpreet Kaur (2017)
- 327 – Smriti Mandhana (2022)
Smriti Mandhana on a roll in 2025 ODI World Cup
Mandhana has featured in two ODI World Cups and took the world by storm when she amassed 327 runs in 2017 edition. However, in the ongoing edition, the southpaw has 416 runs, averaging 59.43.
Mandhana didn't have the best of a start as she only amassed 46 runs in the first three matches. However, the southpaw quickly discovered her lost mojo and slammed two consecutive fifties, followed by a century against New Zealand women.
Smriti got a positive start in the semi-finals, but failed to convert that into a big score. However, the 29-year-old will hope to pile plenty of runs in the final. Talking about the ongoing match, at the time of writing this article, India women are 66/0 after 12 overs.
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