When Mithali Raj punched the ball wide of point off Ellyse Perry to take a single in the World Cup match against Australia in Bristol on Wednesday, the India captain broke the world record of highest scorer in one-day internationals in women's cricket.
Raj surpassed the record of 5992 runs set by England’s Charlotte Edwards and during the innings, she became the first woman to pass 6000 runs in one-day internationals.
Raj got there in 164 innings, 16 fewer than Edwards. She has so far played 183 games, with an average of over 50, with five centuries and 49 half-centuries. Raj’s team-mate, Jhulan Goswami, recently broke the world record of most wickets in women’s one-day internationals when she took her 181st wicket in a match in South Africa.
Coincidentally, the top run scorers in one-day internationals in both men’s and women’s cricket happen to be Indians. Sachin Tendulkar tops the list with 18,426 runs.
At one time, Raj even held the world record of highest individual score in women’s Tests, when she scored 214 against England in 2002. That record was surpassed two years later by Pakistan’s Kiran Baluch.
The top five run-getters in one-dayers:
| Player | Runs |
| Mithali Raj (Ind) | 6012 |
| Charlotte Edwards (Eng) | 5992 |
| Belinda Clarke (Aus) | 4844 |
| Karen Rolton (Aus) | 4814 |
| Claire Taylor (Eng) | 4101 |
