Smriti Mandhana lights up Manchester with maiden T20 ton

Mandhana finished with 102 off 61 balls, which included 12 fours and four sixes. Combining with the Windies’ Stafanie Taylor, she made the chase of 154 against Lancashire Thunder a breeze, guiding her side Western Storm to a seven-wicket win and the top spot on the league table on Friday, 3 August, at Old Trafford.

The knock put her figures for the tournament at 282 runs from five matches, at an average of 94 and a remarkable strike rate of 190.54.

“The way I am batting is pleasing me more than the scores,” said the young left-hander after the match. “I have been timing the ball really well, so I am delighted with that.

“I thought the wicket was a bit slow and low but we had to adjust a bit and I tried to take the innings long and deep … This is a beautiful stadium and so to get runs here is really good. I’ve never been to Manchester before.”

Earlier in the day, another left-hander, New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite, had set up Thunder’s 153/7.

Satterthwaite was unbeaten on 85 off 57 balls, and when the Thunder bowlers struck to remove Storm opener Rachel Priest and No.3 Heather Knight for single-digit scores, they might have thought hers would be a winning effort.

However, with Mandhana on song, it was not to be.