India batter Smriti Mandhana achieved another milestone in her short Test career in Australia on Friday, as she scored a century at the Cannara Oval in Queensland. This is only her fourth Test match.
Mandhana, who opened the batting with Shafali Verma, was unbeaten on 80 on Day 1, which was derailed by heavy rain.
The ace opener finished with 127.
She brought up her century with a boundary of Perry in the 52nd over of the innings. Mandhana worked the bowler away through the legside behind square for a boundary to reach her hundred.
The southpaw however almost missed her century as she was caught off a no-ball in the second over of the day off Ellyse Perry but survived.
Mandhana, who is the fifth Indian woman to score an away century in Tests, very quickly became the highest scoring visiting batter against Australia in Australia.
Before Mandhana, the record was held by Mary Hide who had scored 124 in 1949.
Mandhana then continued in her merry ways, driving with confidence in her and India’s first Pink Ball Test. Her fantastic batting has put India in a commanding position in the Test.
Mandhana is India's first Test centurion in women's Tests in Australia.
Mandhana now holds the record of being the Indian woman with the highest individual scores in Australia across formats. In ODIs, she has the highest score of 102 and in T20Is, the highest of 66 against Australia.
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