Lanning strolls into the record books

At 1.30pm on Monday in Vadodara, Meg Lanning scored her 3000th one-day run.

A quick single from the first delivery she faced against India in the opening ODI brought up the milestone – a moment that almost went unnoticed, coming as it did a long seven months after she scored run 2999.

Lanning herself didn’t realise until much later.

And with the limelight rightly on opener Nicole Bolton after she powered Australia to victory with her fourth one-day ton, the significance of Lanning’s milestone could easily be overlooked.

The Australian captain is the second-fastest woman to reach the mark in terms of innings played – 64 – having fallen a run shy of matching the 62-innings record set by Southern Stars legend Belinda Clark during the World Cup last July, before being dismissed without scoring in her following game.

She’s also the third fastest of any gender, with South Africa’s Hashim Amla (57 innings) holding the overall record.

What is incredible is the rate at which those 3000 runs have come. It took Lanning just 3139 deliveries to reach the milestone, far and away the fastest in women’s ODIs.

The next closest is England star Sarah Taylor (3747) and New Zealand captain Suzie Bates (3831), while only four women – Lanning, Taylor, Bates and Karen Rolton – have done it in less than 4000 deliveries.

The 25-year-old didn’t get a chance to get into full flight in her first match back, but her 33 off 38 was full of promise, given it was just her third competitive knock snice shoulder surgery.

While she is understandably tentative in the field when it comes to diving to her right side, and overarm throwing is a way off yet, she was unrestricted in playing cross-bat shots and strong going down the ground.

It took a disastrous mix-up with Bolton and a direct hit from Veda Krishnamurthy to remove the star batter, with Bolton joking after Australia’s eight-wicket win that she’d need to find a way to make it up to her skipper.

“I was really disappointed, Meg’s missed a lot of cricket and she was hitting the ball really well,” Bolton said.

“Anytime you run the skipper out … I’m probably going to have to wheel her bag out tonight or pack her kit or do something to get back in her good books.”

Lanning is the 12th woman to break through the 3000-run barrier, and given the Australian captain has already compiled 11 ODI centuries, more than any other female player in history, she will likely break just about every other run-scoring record in the book if she continues at her current rate.

Next on the agenda could be 4000 ODI runs – a mark reached by eight women, with Clark again the quickest, in 86 innings, followed by Rolton (103) and Bates (105). 

Australia have two days to recover and prepare for the second match of the series, to be played at the same venue on Thursday.

Fastest to 3000 ODI runs

Image Id: F1747915C3654179B2B6EB98F52FE508 Image Caption: 'BC' hits out in the 1997 World Cup final // Getty

Belinda Clark (AUS) 62 innings

Meg Lanning (AUS) 63

Karen Rolton (AUS) 76

Stafanie Taylor (WI) 81

Suzie Bates (NZ) 83

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India ODI squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Australia won by eight wickets Scorecard

Second ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 15

Third ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 18

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 22

Second T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 23

Third T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 25

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31