Smriti Mandhana hits record 18th international hundred as India post 193/5 against Hong Kong

Dubai: Smriti Mandhana smashed a record-breaking century as India posted 193/5 against Hong Kong in their Women's Asia Cup match in Dubai on Thursday.

Mandhana made 124 off 64 balls, including 14 fours and seven sixes, after initially taking time to settle. She added 74 runs with Shafali Verma, who scored 28 off 17 balls, to give India a strong start.

Mandhana reached her 18th international hundred across formats in the 17th over, surpassing Australia's Meg Lanning, who had 17 centuries. It was also Mandhana's second T20 hundred.

The left-hander then moved past Mithali Raj's tally of 10,868 runs to become the leading run-scorer in women's international cricket. She reached the milestone with two sixes down the ground in the following over.

Mandhana took advantage of a Hong Kong attack that struggled to maintain its lines, but also made batting look effortless on a surface where the other Indian batters found it difficult to accelerate.

Shafali initially struggled for fluency before cutting loose in the final over of the powerplay, which yielded 22 runs.

Hong Kong attempted to contain Mandhana with deliveries outside off stump, but the experienced opener countered the tactic effectively and continued to find boundaries around the ground.

Pratika Rawal, batting at No. 3 in her debut T20 series, made 10 off 12 before being caught at cover.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (10 off 9) and Richa Ghosh (11 off 13) were dismissed while attempting aerial strokes.