Women's World Cup: Smriti Mandhana creates history in Vizag, breaks Belinda Clark’s world record

Star India batter Smriti Mandhana etched her name in the record books by breaking former Australia captain Belinda Clark’s 28-year-old milestone. During Match 10 of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 against South Africa at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Mandhana set the new benchmark for the most runs in a calendar year in Women’s ODIs.

After a sluggish start to her innings, the opening batter accomplished the milestone with a huge six, sending the ball by Ayabonga Khaka straight down the ground. She surpassed Belinda Clark's 1997 total of 970 runs with the enormous stroke. With four hundreds and three fifties in 17 innings, Mandhana has now amassed 982 runs at an average of 57.76 in 2025.

After breaking the world record, Mandhana pushed on, adding another boundary off Nadine de Klerk to move into the 20s. However, she was unable to capitalise on the start and got out against Nonkululeko Mlaba for 23(32) after playing a lofted shot straight into the hands of Sune Luus at long-on. This continued her shaky start in the marquee tournament, following scores of 8 and 23 in the previous matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively.

Nadine de Klerk stated during the pre-match press conference that they would want to keep Mandhana quiet because the opener has an incredible record against the Proteas women. They delivered on their promise by dismissing the Indian opener cheaply.