Women's Asia Cup 2026: India's Smriti Mandhana is now best batter ever in women's cricket

India's Smriti Mandhana is now officially the best batter in the world. Mandhana, who hit a 64-ball 124 against Hong Kong Women in the ongoing Women's Asia Cup 2026 on Thursday (Sep 3) in Dubai (UAE), went past former India women's skipper Mithali Raj for the most runs in all of women's international cricket. The left-hand batter now has 10,880 runs in all of women's Tests, ODIs, and T20Is - 12 runs more than Mithali's 10,868 runs. The century against HK-W was Mandhana's 18th in international cricket - also the most by any women's batter - going past Meg Lanning (Australia) and Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa) who have 17 tons each.

Mandhana takes over Mithali to be the most successful women's batter ever

Mandhana's 124 against HK is the highest individual score for India women in T20I cricket - going past her own best of 112 against England in 2025. After Mandhana overtook Mithali, the former Indian women's skipper was ecstatic with joy and congratulated her with a heartfelt post on X.

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"Well deserved, @mandhana_smriti! I’ve watched you grow from a young player into one of the finest batters India has produced. To see you go past my record and become the highest run-scorer in international cricket is a moment I’m genuinely proud of. Here’s to many more runs and milestones. Keep going!" Mithali wrote.

Mandhana and bowlers power India into Women's Asia Cup 2026 semis

Thanks to Mandhana, India posted 193/5 in 20 overs against HK-W in a women's Asia Cup 2026 group stage fixture. Apart from her, Shafali Verma scored 28, Pratika Rawal hit 10, Richa Ghosh 11, and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur managed 10. Mandhana hit 14 fours and seven sixes in her innings - becoming India's highest six hitter with a total tally of 95 and fourth highest in the world.

In reply, HK-W were bowled out for a paltry score of 56 in 16.2 overs. For India, Nandini Sharma, Shree Charani, and Prema Rawat took two wickets apiece while Deepti Sharma picked 3/9 as India won by 137 runs.