ICC Women's World Cup 2022: 4 players with approaching milestones in IND vs AUS clash
After facing their second defeat in the ongoing Womenโs World Cup against England, Team India are all set to take on the tournament favorites Australia tomorrow at Eden Park in Auckland.
Mitali Raj and her team have had a mixed campaign run in the World cup so far with two wins and two losses. On the other hand, Meg Lanning and her Aussie side have won all the matches they gave played in the World Cup.
Interestingly, Australia has also played all their four matches in this tournament against the same opponents India have faced.
The six-time World Cup Champions Australia will look to win the fifth consecutive match in the tournament to keep their streak going and move close to a spot in the semi-finals. Mithali Raj and her team will want to gain some momentum by winning the third match after a 50-50 start to their campaign.
On that note, let's take a look at four players on the verge of crossing big landmarks in this clash.
#1 Smriti Mandhana requires 27 to reach 5000 runs across formats
Smriti Mandhana has been playing international cricket for a while now and has tasted quite a bit of success across all three formats. In her nine-year-long ODI career, Smriti has secured 2,677 runs in 68 innings at an average of over 42.
Combining her Test and T20 numbers, she has gathered 2,296 runs. If Smriti gains 27 more runs against the Aussies, she will have joined the 5,000-run club across all formats. Moreover, Mandhana is eight fours away from completing 650 boundaries in international cricket.
#2 Mithali Raj needs 47 runs to become the third-highest run-getter in Women's World Cups
Mitali Raj may have failed to score big in their previous game against England but she is among the greatest cricketers to have represented her country. Since making her debut back in 1999, Raj has led the team to victory with her batting on multiple occasions.
Mithali currently has 1,185 runs to her name and needs just 47 more to become the third-highest run-scorer in World Cup history. In doing so, she will overthrow former England skipper Charlotte Edwards who currently holds the position.
#3 Ellyse Perry requires three scalps to become the fifth-highest wicket-taker in Women's World Cups
Ellyse Perry has been an extremely valuable asset for the Australian women's cricket team for some time now. In her 125-match-long career, Perry has scored 3,324 ODI runs at a whopping average of 50.36. This includes two centuries, 29 half-centuries and a high score of 112*.
Perry is an excellent right-arm medium bowler as well and has picked up 161 wickets in those 125 matches. If she picks three more scalps, Perry will have crossed Cathryn Fitzpatrick to become the fifth-highest wicket-taker in Women's World Cups.
#4 Deepti Sharma is four scalps away from collecting 150 wickets in international matches
Deepti Sharma had a good opening game for Team India against Pakistan but failed to peak in the next three matches. She will be eager to prove herself in the upcoming games and has a number of milestones in her path.
Deepti Sharma needs four scalps to gather 150 wickets across formats. Also, Sharma is four boundaries away from completing 250 boundaries in international cricket. Lastly, Sharma requires 70 more to cross the 2,500-run mark across all three formats.