Harmanpreet Kaur hits 126 against Zimbabwe, goes past Mithali Raj's tally of ODI centuries

The Indian women's cricket team is playing a three-match ODI series at home against Zimbabwe. In the second match, captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and chose to bat first. The start was poor, however, and India lost two wickets for 19 runs.

Former captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who came in at that point, not only steadied the innings from one end but also scored a fine century. With it, she broke the record of former captain Mithali Raj. Harmanpreet has now moved to second place among Indian players with the most centuries in women's ODI cricket.

Harmanpreet did not get a chance to bat in the first ODI against Zimbabwe. In the second match, she made up for it. She completed her eighth ODI century in just 101 balls. Her innings was 126 runs off 121 balls, with 15 fours.

In the list of most centuries for India in women's ODIs, Smriti Mandhana, who is now India's new captain, leads with 14. Harmanpreet Kaur follows with eight. Mithali Raj has seven. Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues and Pratika Rawal have three each.

With this century, Harmanpreet also became the fourth-oldest player to score a hundred in women's ODI cricket. She completed her eighth ODI century at the age of 37 years and 231 days.

At the top of this list is New Zealand's Barbara Bevis, who scored an ODI century in 1982 at the age of 39 years and 48 days. She is followed by England's Janet Brittin, who scored a century in 1997 at 38 years and 161 days. Third is South Africa's Daleen Terblanche, who did so in 2000 at 37 years and 289 days.

Harmanpreet is fourth after these three, while New Zealand's Debbie Hockley is fifth. Hockley scored a century in 2000 at the age of 37 years and 91 days.