Mandhana made 124; the records followed

Smriti Mandhana scored 124 off 64 balls as India beat Hong Kong, China by 137 runs in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Dubai on September 3. India made 193/5; Hong Kong, China were bowled out for 56. The scoreboard, at least, did not require a government spokesperson.

The ICC said Mandhana’s innings took her international total to 10,880 runs, past Mithali Raj’s 10,868, making her the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket across formats. Her 18th international century also moved her past Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt for the most across formats. She became the first Indian woman with multiple T20I centuries, while Cricbuzz reported that her seven sixes took her past Harmanpreet Kaur for the most by an Indian woman in T20Is.

In remarks attributed to a BCCI-released video, Mandhana said match wins mattered more to her than personal runs or records. She also said she would be proud if her achievements inspired even 10% of girls to pick up a bat and ball. The quote is reported through that BCCI video, for which no direct transcript was available in the consulted material. The records, however, are on the scorecard.