Smriti Mandhana Century Breaks Two Records As India Beat Hong Kong By 137

Smriti Mandhana made 124 from 64 balls in Dubai on Thursday, and by the end of the night India were the first team into the Women's Asia Cup semi-finals. The Smriti Mandhana century carried two records with it. She went past Mithali Raj as the leading run-scorer in women's international cricket. She also went past Meg Lanning as its leading century-maker.

India posted 193 for 5 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Hong Kong were bowled out for 56 in 16.2 overs. The margin was 137 runs. Deepti Sharma finished with 3 for 9. India play Pakistan on Saturday.

Two records in one innings

Mandhana now has 10,880 runs across the three international formats. Raj retired in 2022 on 10,868. The hundred was also her 18th in international cricket, one clear of Lanning, and her second in T20 internationals. No other India batter has more than one.

She had not been counting. "Yeah, till I was batting, I didn't know what record (I had broken) because I didn't know what exact runs (I had made)," she told the ICC. "But looking back, I'd say a very good day for Indian cricket."

"Two of the legends of the game: Meg Lanning and Mithali Raj. These are the people I've grown up watching. I've tried to take a lot of things from them as batters. So really happy that I could go past them in whatever ways," Mandhana said.

Inside the 124

The innings held 14 fours and seven sixes. Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on 74 from 47 balls for the first wicket before Verma fell for 28 from 17. Harmanpreet Kaur made 10. Nobody else needed to do much.

The boundary count does most of the explaining. Twenty-one of Mandhana's scoring shots went to or over the rope. That is 98 of her 124 runs from 21 deliveries, and it left the other 43 balls of her innings worth 26.

India finished on 193 for 5. Of that, 124 came from one bat. Shafali Verma's 28 was the next-highest score reported, and Harmanpreet Kaur's 10 the only other innings of note.

India's spinners finish it in 16.2 overs

Hong Kong never threatened the target. Four India bowlers took two wickets or more, and Deepti Sharma was the pick of them on a surface that gripped.

• Deepti Sharma: 3 for 9
• Shree Charani: 2 wickets
• Prema Rawat: 2 wickets
• Nandani Sharma: 2 wickets

Hong Kong lasted 98 deliveries. Their innings ended with 22 balls still available and 137 runs short, a margin that will sit on their net run rate for the rest of the group stage.

The Group A picture before Pakistan

India opened the tournament by beating Thailand by 94 runs. Two wins, both by 90 or more, have taken them through with group matches still to play. Pakistan beat Thailand by 35 runs in their own opener and meet India on Saturday.

The fixture now reads differently for the two sides. India arrive with a semi-final place banked and room to look at their bench. Pakistan arrive needing points, having defended 119 against Thailand and held them to 84 for 8. Both sides have beaten the same opponent. Only one of them has beaten Hong Kong by 137.