Winning Starts, Mixed Performances: Team India Stars in Women’s Hundred 2026 So Far
Four matches of the ongoing Women’s Hundred tournament are done and dusted. All four Indians featuring this season — Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh for Manchester Super Giants, Jemimah Rodrigues for Southern Brave, and Deepti Sharma for Sunrisers Leeds — have now had their first taste of the competition. More importantly, all four began their campaigns with wins. However, while two of them produced impressive performances in their teams’ opening games, the other duo would have hoped for better returns given the situations they found themselves in.
Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh – Manchester Super Giants
Manchester Super Giants began their campaign with a dominant seven-wicket win. However, while chasing 81, opener Smriti Mandhana managed only 17 off 14 balls. She looked in good touch, hitting three boundaries, including an impressive shot over backward point off Deandra Dottin. Despite the promising start, she failed to convert it into a bigger score as Marizanne Kapp trapped her on the crease with a delivery that nipped back in.
Considering her recent white-ball form, this is another instance of Smriti failing to make the most of a good start. During the recent Women’s T20 World Cup, after back-to-back fifties in her first two matches, she was unable to produce another significant score. It is an area she will want to improve by converting starts into bigger innings more consistently.
For Richa Ghosh, it proved to be a more fruitful outing. She took two catches and completed a sharp stumping before remaining unbeaten on 15 off just five balls, striking at 300, including two sixes.
Jemimah Rodrigues – Southern Brave
Southern Brave began their campaign with a Sophie Molineux-inspired eight-run win, but Jemimah Rodrigues failed to make a significant contribution. Batting at No. 4, she managed just four runs.
It appeared to be a well-executed plan from Sophia Smale. The two deliveries before the dismissal were short and wide outside off before Smale bowled one on a length just outside off, angling it in. The pitch was a little slow, with the ball holding up, and as Jemimah went for the shot, she completely mistimed it, offering a simple catch at backward point. Her only notable contribution came in the field, where a direct hit ran out Freya Kemp, who was going strong. That timely dismissal helped shift the momentum in Southern Brave’s favour.
However, Jemimah’s disappointing UK tour continues. After scoring a match-winning fifty in the opening T20I against England before the recent Women’s T20 World Cup, she failed to build on that momentum. Across the next two T20Is, one warm-up match and five World Cup games, she managed just 129 runs in eight innings, crossing the 30-run mark only once. Even in the historic Lord’s Test, she failed to capitalise after getting a start in the first innings, and this poor beginning to her Hundred campaign is another setback.
Deepti Sharma – Sunrisers Leeds
Veteran all-rounder Deepti Sharma did not get an opportunity to bat in Sunrisers Leeds’ successful chase of 108, but she made her presence felt with the ball, returning figures of 2 for 20 from 15 balls.
She appeared to bowl at the perfect pace on the slow surface, making it difficult for the opposition batters to time the ball. Deepti dismissed both openers — Hayley Matthews and Danni Wyatt-Hodge. The wicket of Matthews was particularly important, as she had started well before Deepti produced a sharp return catch to dismiss her.
Heading into the tournament’s first double-header on 25 July, Jemimah and Deepti will face each other, while Smriti and Richa will play their second match on 26 July.
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