Opener Punam Raut’s fighting century and a record-breaking 69 from skipper Mithali Raj enabled India to post a decent 226 for 7 against formidable Australia in their sixth group league encounter of the ICC Women’s World Cup, in Bristol today.
Raut (106, 136 balls) and Mithali (69, 114 balls) added 157 runs for the second wicket in 37 overs.
The highlight of the Indian innings was Mithali surpassing former England captain Charlotte Edwards’ aggregate of 5992 runs to become the highest run-getter in the history of women’s ODIs.
En route to her 49th ODI half-century, she also became the first batswoman to reach the individual milestone of 6000 runs.
Punam, who hit 11 boundaries, played confidently against the spinners - off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner (1/48 in 10 overs) and leg-spinner Kirsten Beans (0/43 in 9 overs).
Mithali, however, was very slow off the blocks even though her innings had four boundaries and a six.
She simply couldn’t find the gaps as the dot balls kept on piling. The only time she tried chancing her arms was when she lofted Beans for a six to complete 6000 runs.
Once Mithali was out, Harmanpreet Kaur (23, 22 balls) tried to get a move on but after she was dismissed, the Indians couldn’t accelerate in the final overs.