Mithali Raj scored her 17th T20I fifty as India defeated Ireland at the Providence Stadium in Guyana to enter the semifinals of ICC World T20 on Thursday.
Batting first, India scored 145 for six thanks to Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana who scored 33 runs off 29 balls. In reply, Ireland could manage only 93/8 in 20 overs as Deepti Sharma got 2 fo 15 in 3 overs. Radha Yadav picked 3/25 in 4 overs for India.
Raj played a crucial innings in the match although a bit too slowly to help India reach a competetive total. Raj, who scored 51 runs off 56 balls with four fours and her career's first T20I maximum, was criticised by some fans for her slow batting on Twitter, however most fans praised her for a good innings on a slow and tough pitch.
She thanked the fans for understanding. She wrote, "Love to come back here for feedback. Extremely happy to see people understanding cricket. To notice a slow wicket, tough conditions - things that only experts would speak of. Hoping for better weather at the Semis & a thrilling game!"
Raj broke two records in the match on Monday with her 17th T20I fifty. Mithali, who scored 51 runs off 56 balls with four fours and her career's first T20I maximum, surpassed New Zealand's Martin Guptill, who is the highest T20I run-scorer among men's cricketers. Mithali (2283 runs) now stands 12 runs adrift of the Kiwi player. However, she is still the fourth-highest T20I scorer in the world, standing behind Suzie Bates (2961), Stafanie Taylor (2691) and Charlotte Edwards (2605).
With her 17th T20I fifty, she also managed to surpass Bates, Alyssa Healy and Pakistan's Babar Azam to have the most 50-plus scores in a calendar year in both men's and women's cricket.
