Mandhana First Woman to 11,000 International Runs in Asian Games Final

India's Smriti Mandhana crossed 11,000 international runs during the Asian Games gold-medal match against Sri Lanka in Aichi-Nagoya.

Smriti Mandhana made history on Tuesday, becoming the first woman cricketer to pass 11,000 runs in international play. The landmark came during India's Asian Games gold-medal match against Sri Lanka at Korogi Sports Park in Aichi-Nagoya. Needing 13 runs at the start, the left-hander got there quickly, hitting two fours in the first over and a six in the third after India chose to bat.

Before this innings, Mandhana's career totals stood at 10,987: 788 in Tests, 5,411 in ODIs and 4,788 in T20Is. The 30-year-old vice-captain has stacked up records throughout the tournament. Earlier this month, a 124 against Hong Kong at the Women's Asia Cup lifted her past Mithali Raj's 10,868 to make her the leading run-scorer in women's international cricket. That century was also her 18th in internationals, moving her ahead of Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt for most hundreds at the time.

In the Asian Games semifinal, an innings of 37 off 19 balls against Bangladesh took Mandhana past Suzie Bates (4,758) as the top T20I run-scorer, finishing at 4,788. In that same game she became the first Indian woman to strike 100 sixes in T20Is. India won the semifinal by 114 runs, with Shafali Verma scoring an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls.

In the final, Mandhana brought up a half-century from 31 deliveries and shared a 99-run stand with Shafali. The pair pushed their overall partnership tally past 4,000 runs, well clear of the second-placed UAE duo of Esha Oza and Theertha Satish on 2,949.

The final is a rematch of both the 2023 Asian Games gold-medal game and this month's Women's Asia Cup final, with India winning on both occasions. India, who beat Japan by eight wickets in the quarterfinal, are defending the title they took in 2023. Sri Lanka arrived unchanged after beating Malaysia and Pakistan and are chasing a first gold after bronze in 2014 and silver in 2022.