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‘All hail in front of the queen’ – Fans react after Smriti Mandhana slams her second successive ODI ton vs South Africa

Smriti Mandhana scripts history by scoring her second successive ODI ton vs South Africa in Bengaluru on Wednesday to equal with Mitali Raj with 7 centuries.

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Smriti Mandhana (Source-BCCI)

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India’s women’s team continued their strong showing in the 2nd ODI against South Africa with a brilliant ton by Smriti Mandhana. The left-handed batter had scored a century in the first match of the series as well which helped India by a massive margin to take a 1-0 lead in the series. 

It was South Africa who won the toss and chose to bowl first. The Indians were in a commanding position thanks to the efforts by Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur who batted the visitors out of the game. 

The two came together when the score was 100 for 2 in the 23rd over and dominated the opposition bowlers. South Africa made just one change as Mieke De Ridder made her debut in place of Nadine Klerk. 

Smriti Mandhana rules the roost with the bat 

Jam-packed Bengaluru welcomed both sides as India were asked to bat first. Shafali Varma played a breezy knock of 20 which came off 38 balls with 3 fours. M Nbala got the first wicket when she had Varma caught by M Klaas in the 11th over. 

Dayalan Hemlata scored 24 runs from 41 balls with one four and 2 sixes and helped Mandhana add 62 runs for the 2nd wicket. That stand was broken when Klaas had the Indian batter caught by Anneke Bosch to put the Indian team under pressure. 

This is when the two veteran Indian batters came together and began to show their class with the bat. The two added 171 for the 3rd wicket in 136 balls as they took the pressure away and put the South Africans on the back foot. 

None of the bowlers were spared as the two batters hit boundaries and ran well between the wickets. Mandhana got her century in style and equalled with Mithali Raj with 7 tons which is the joint most by an Indian Women’s cricketer. Mandhana was out for 136 from 120 balls with 18 fours and 2 sixes in her knock. 

Here’s how the fans reacted:

India Smriti Mandhana