Mithali Raj registers joint-most 50+ scores in women's ODIs
Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj registered the joint-highest 50+ scores in women's ODIs, going past the mark for the 55th time in the ICC Women's World Cup match against New Zealand on Saturday. Mithali now shares the record with England's Charlotte Edwards, whom she surpassed to become the highest run-getter in women's ODIs earlier.
Mithali Raj continued her magnificent form in ODI cricket as she slammed a magnificent century against New Zealand in a crucial ICC Women?s World Cup encounter in Derby. The Indian skipper rebuilt the innings with a 132-run stand with Harmanpreet Kaur, who also came back to form with a brilliant 60. (IND v NZ?score)However, Mithali continued to bat brilliantly and she was joined by Veda Krishnamurthy, who came out all guns blazing to smash a fifty off just 34 balls. Her assault in the final overs gave the Indian skipper the confidence to hold firm at the other end. Mithali notched up the landmark in the 48th over when she flicked Leigh Kasperek to deep mid wicket for a couple. This was her sixth century and her first in the ICC?Women?s World Cup 2017. It was her first  ODI century since 2014, when she hit an unbeaten 104 against Sri Lanka in Vizag.Mithali finally departed for 109 while Krishnamurthy slammed 70 off 45 balls as India ended up on a formidable 265/7 against New Zealand.Her sixth ODI century continued her record breaking run in ODIs in 2017. This was her 10th fifty-plus score in a calendar year, which is the most by any woman cricketer in history. In the previous game against Australia, Mithali became the leading run-getter in ODI cricket by overtaking England?s Charlotte Edwards record of 5992 runs. She also became the first cricketer to go past 6000 ODI runs. In the ICC Women?s World Cup, her scores so far have been 71, 46,8,53,0,69 and this century.India will have to win their final league game against New Zealand if they have to seal a place in the semifinal. If they lose this match, they will be eliminated.