Mithali Raj continued her magnificent form in ODI cricket as she slammed an attacking fifty against New Zealand in a crucial ICC Women’s World Cup encounter in Derby.
The Indian skipper rebuilt the innings along with Harmanpreet Kaur after India lost Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut cheaply.
However, this knock was special as Raj notched up her 50th half century in ODIs, the first woman cricketer to reach this milestone in the history of the game. The Indian skipper notched up the landmark by flicking New Zealand pacer Hannah Rowe to deep mid wicket to bring up the milestone.
Her 50th fifty continued her record breaking run in ODIs in 2017. This was her 10th fifty 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 fifty.
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.
