Two wickets down, India were tottering at 35 after 9.2 overs when Harmanpreet Kaur joined skipper Mithali Raj at the crease. And once the skipper fell for 36, Kaur knew she had to stick around if India wanted a chance at winning. And so she did.
Coming in at No 4, Harmanpreet fired a 115-ball unbeaten 171 to bail out the team in the rain-curtailed match reduced to 42 overs a side. She helped India post a massive 281 for four, their highest score against the Southern Stars.
The ‘amazing Harman’ not only smashed a career-best score, but also broke several records in women’s ODI cricket.
Such was the ferocity of her attack, that the Punjab right-hander got to her third One-day International (ODI) hundred in just 90 balls before launching most of the Aussie bowlers out of the park.
She reached the 51 to 100 milestone in 26 balls and then raced to 150 from 101 in just 17 balls.
Harmanpreet’s 171 not-out is the second highest score scored against the Australian women’s team after Sri Lanka’s Chamari Atapattu.
She now only trails Deepti Sharma in the list of highest ODI scores by Indian women cricketers.
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