9 OCTOBER2021IN FOCUSTeamByMITHALI RAJ SCORES 20,000 RUNS, SETS LANDMARK DURING 1ST ODI AGAINST AUSTRALIAIndian women's ODI skipper Mithali Raj went past 20,000 runs in her cricketing career on Tuesday in the ongoing first ODI of the three-match series against Australia at the Harrup Park in Mackay.The Indian skipper played a strike of 61 runs from 107 balls and she helped the visitors post 225/8 in the allotted fifty overs. In women's international cricket Mithali is the highest scorer across three formats of the game.Earlier this year, she became the highest scorer in international cricket during the tour of England. Mithali played a 61-run knock but Darcie Brown's four-wicket drag helped Australia limit India to 225/8.Yastika Bhatia cracked in with an innings of 35 runs with the help of two boundaries. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma provided an accelerated start in the batting as the opening duo put on 31 runs inside the first four overs.Brown set aside both Shafali and Mandhana, reducing India to 38/2 in the sixth over and Australia came back. Yastika and Mithali put on 77 runs for the third wicket, but afterwards, the side lost the wicket of Bhatia to Brown in the 26th over.Deepti Sharma did not play well with the bat and handed Brown her fourth wicket due to which India was lowered to 129/4 in the 31st over.Mithali has played a knock of 61 runs and her strike rate can once again be talked about as she scored these runs from 107 balls and Sophie Molineux finally ended her innings in the 38th over.Molineux stumped Mithali and this brought Pooja Vastrakar and Richa Ghosh together at the ridge. In the end, India had to settle with a score of 225, as the lower-order was unable to contribute match. Jhulan Goswami and Richa Ghosh played cameos of 30 and 32 respectively in the final overs. DEEPTI SHARMA DID NOT PLAY WELL WITH THE BAT AND HANDED BROWN HER FOURTH WICKET DUE TO WHICH INDIA WAS LOWERED TO 129/4 IN THE 31ST OVER
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