Smriti Mandhana didn’t just help India beat Hong Kong by 137 runs at the Women’s T20 Asia Cup; she rewrote two long-standing records in a single innings. Her 124 off 64 balls carried India to 193/5 and pushed her past Mithali Raj as the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket. She got there in 30 fewer innings than Mithali needed. That pace, not just the total, is why the record books needed rewriting. The next question is obvious: which mark falls next, and how soon.
The Knock That Rewrote History
India batted first at Dubai International Stadium, and Mandhana put on a rapid 60 with Shafali Verma inside the first six overs before Verma fell for 28. Mandhana carried the innings from there, reaching her century off just 57 balls before finishing on exactly 124, a career-best T20I score built from 14 fours and seven sixes in total. India posted 193/5 and bowled Hong Kong out for just 56, sealing a comfortable 137-run win in the Group A fixture.
Three separate records fell during that single innings alone. She passed Mithali Raj’s all-time international runs tally, she moved past Meg Lanning’s 17 centuries to stand alone on 18, and she set a new highest individual score in Women’s T20 Asia Cup history, beating Chamari Athapaththu’s 119 not out from 2024. Very few innings in the format have carried that much historical weight at once.
Smriti Mandhana Asia Cup 2026 Record Runs
Mithali Raj retired in 2022 with 10,868 international runs from 333 innings, a mark that stood as the benchmark for more than four years. Mandhana cleared it in her 303rd innings, reaching 10,880 during the Group A match against Hong Kong. The margin is narrow, just 12 runs, but the pace of it is the real story: 30 fewer innings than it took Mithali to reach the same landmark tally over a much longer career.
Player | Format | Runs | Innings | Centuries |
Smriti Mandhana | ODIs | 5,411 | ~120 | 14 |
Smriti Mandhana | T20Is | 4,681 | ~171 | 2 |
Smriti Mandhana | Tests | 788 | 16 | 2 |
Smriti Mandhana | TOTAL (Sep 2026) | 10,880 | 303 | 18 |
Mithali Raj | Career Total | 10,868 | 333 | 17 |
The Other Marks She Now Owns
Her 18 international centuries now break down as 14 in ODIs, two in Tests and two in T20Is. She also holds 37 fifty-plus scores in T20Is, already a standalone world record, with Australia’s Beth Mooney next on 33.
Her 4,681 T20I runs make her the outright leading run-scorer in the format across both men’s and women’s cricket combined, sitting 450 runs clear of India’s Rohit Sharma in second place. Few players in the sport currently hold two separate all-time records across different formats at the same moment in their career.
The Milestones Still Within Reach
Three targets look genuinely reachable from here, none of them far away. Meg Lanning’s record of 15 ODI centuries is the nearest one, with Mandhana sitting on 14 and needing just one more big knock to claim that record outright for herself.
Becoming the first woman to reach 5,000 T20I runs is next. She needs 319 more, achievable inside her next 10 to 12 T20I innings if she keeps scoring at her current rate. Her overall lead at the top of the all-time charts will also keep growing, with Mithali now retired and New Zealand’s Suzie Bates next in line on 10,740, and continuing at her current scoring pace since 2024 could see her pass 12,000 career runs as early as 2027.
Consistency Across Three Different Formats
Her 47.88 ODI average across 120 matches places her among the format’s most reliable openers, and her T20I strike rate has sat above 125 across 171 matches. She also holds the record for most fours struck in women’s T20Is worldwide. Her Test numbers, 788 runs at 52.53 with two centuries in just nine matches, show the same technical quality carries across every surface and format she plays.
In 2024 she scored 1,659 international runs in a single calendar year, breaking Belinda Clark’s 28-year-old record. In 2025, she became the first woman to pass 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year alone. At 30, with her form still peaking, the Smriti Mandhana Asia Cup 2026 record runs milestone looks like one entry in a much longer list still being written.
Which record do you think Mandhana breaks first, Lanning’s ODI centuries or the 5,000 T20I run mark? Tell us your prediction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many international runs does Smriti Mandhana have?
She has 10,880 international runs across all formats, the most by any woman in the sport’s history. That includes 5,411 ODI runs, 4,681 T20I runs, and 788 Test runs as of September 2026.
Did Smriti Mandhana break Mithali Raj’s batting record?
Yes, she passed Mithali Raj’s career tally of 10,868 international runs in September 2026. She reached the mark in her 303rd international innings, 30 fewer than Mithali needed to get there.
What was Mandhana’s score in the record-breaking innings?
She scored 124 off 64 balls, including 14 fours and seven sixes, against Hong Kong. The knock was also the highest individual score in Women’s T20 Asia Cup history.
Who is the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket?
Smriti Mandhana now leads all batters in women’s international cricket with 10,880 runs. Mithali Raj sits second on 10,868, followed by New Zealand’s Suzie Bates on 10,740.
What record could Mandhana break next in her career?
She is one century away from equalling Meg Lanning’s record of 15 ODI hundreds. She also needs just 319 more runs to become the first woman past 5,000 career T20I runs.
Disclaimer: This blog post reflects the author’s personal insights and analysis. Readers are encouraged to consider the perspectives shared and draw their own conclusions.