Smriti Mandhana put on quite a show in the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 fixture against Hong Kong, China on Thursday, slamming her second T20I century. The elegant left-handed batter went on to play a knock of 124, enabling the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side to post a formidable 193/5 in the allotted twenty overs. This innings enabled the vice-captain to enter the record books in women’s cricket, surpassing both Mithali Raj and Meg Lanning.
Mandhana went past Mithali to become the leading run-getter in women’s internationals, while she leapfrogged Lanning to have the most centuries across formats.
When asked about surpassing Mithali, Mandhana said it was a good day for Indian cricket, with two players from the country now at the top of the record books.
Also Read: Smriti Mandhana conquers women’s cricket’s biggest record, surpasses Mithali Raj in historic triple
“I mean, till I was batting, I didn’t know what record because I didn’t know what the exact runs needed were or all of that. Looking back, definitely one of the very best days for Indian cricket, I would say, of course, Mithali di has been such a legend and a role model,” Mandhana told reporters after the game against Hong Kong.
“We’ve all grown up watching her bat. I mean go past her in the tally of runs is I definitely never imagined to do that But happy that you know, there are two top Indians at the top two,” she added.
What about Lanning?
Mandhana was also ecstatic about leaving the former Australia captain behind, saying she has always modelled her game on Mithali and Lanning, and it feels good to break the record of these two legends.
“Going past the international record of the centuries, 18 is a good number to go past. Firstly, I will say that. Again, I mean two of the legends of women’s cricket, Meg Lanning and Mithali Raj. I mean, genuinely, these are the two people who I have grown up watching a lot of cricket, and I have tried to take a lot of things from them as a batter,” said Mandhana.
“So really happy that I could go past them in whatever way, but yeah, again, it’s just a start, I would say,” she added.
With the win over Hong Kong, China, India sealed their place in the Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals. The Harmanpreet-led unit will play its final league stage match on Sunday against arch-rival Pakistan.
Speaking of the game against Hong Kong, India bowled out the opponent for 56, winning the contest by 137 runs.