Smriti Mandhana becomes highest run-scorer in women's T20Is
Smriti Mandhana became the highest run-scorer in women's Twenty20 Internationals during the Asian Games women's cricket semi-final between India and Bangladesh on 20 September 2026, surpassing New Zealand's Suzie Bates. The Indian opener achieved the landmark early in the chase when a boundary in the third over took her past Bates' total.
Mandhana, who is India's vice-captain, entered the Asian Games off the back of an Asia Cup campaign in which she was the tournament's second-highest run-getter. She required seven runs to overtake Bates and reached that mark in the third over with a boundary as India got off to a flying start. Earlier in the innings she began with an early boundary in the first over.
India won the toss and chose to bat first in the semi-final, and after Mandhana's initial shot Shafali Verma took over the aggression against the Bangladesh attack. Mandhana returned to the attack in the third over, producing back-to-back boundaries, one of which was sufficient to claim the T20I run record.
After securing the record, Mandhana shifted her approach and struck a couple of sixes as India moved quickly on top of the contest. Those sixes also pushed her career tally of T20I maximums to 100, placing her alongside leading hitters on the list.
The list of top career maximums provided in the match coverage reads: 134 - Sophie Devine (New Zealand); 134+ - Deandra Dottin (West Indies); 120 - Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka); 100 - Smriti Mandhana (India)*. Career run totals cited in the report put Mandhana at 4761* runs, Suzie Bates at 4758 and Harmanpreet Kaur at 4287.
The match report also states that Mandhana scored 213 runs and hit a hundred against Hong Kong China, during the course of which she became the highest run-getter in the history of women's cricket. She was finally dismissed for 37 off 19 balls within the powerplay, but her early contributions had already set India up strongly in the semi-final.
Mandhana now leads the women's T20I run-scoring charts with 4761* runs, ahead of Suzie Bates on 4758, a change recorded as part of the Asian Games women's cricket competition.
