Smriti Mandhana continued her form and smashed a half-century in the 3rd T20I against England in London. The left-handed batter scored a brilliant 56 off 49 balls. She kicked off the series with a century. Smriti, who has 181 runs in 3 games, is the only batter to breach the 100-run mark in the series so far. With 83 runs each, Jemimah Rodrigues and Sophia Dunkley share the second spot. India are 2-1 ahead in the five-match series.

Smriti achieved a huge milestone and joined Mithali Raj in an elite list during her 56-run knock. She became only the second Indian batter to breach the 9000-run mark in women's cricket.

Smriti, who made her India debut in a T20I in 2013, has 629 runs in Tests, 4473 runs in ODIs and 3942 runs in the shortest format. She has now scored 9044 runs in 260 matches.

Mithali, who tops the overall list of batters with the most runs in women's cricket, finished her career with 10868 runs in 314 matches. She is followed by Suzie Bates (10612), Charlotte Edwards (10273), Stefanie Taylor (9299) and Smriti, respectively.

Smriti has a lot of cricket left in her and she can pip Mithali in the elite list in the next couple of years. She can also become the first-ever batter to score 11000 runs in women's cricket.

Smriti's heroics didn't prove to be enough as India lost the 3rd T20I by 5 runs. India got off to a quick start as the opening pair of Smriti and Shafali Verma added 85 runs for the first wicket in 9 overs.

The Women in Blue were 2 down for 123 when England dismissed Rodrigues on the first ball of the 14th over. India faltered in the final few overs and fell short by 5 runs. The next 2 T20Is will be played on July 9 and 12.