Mithali Raj breaks all-time record of consecutive half-centuries

Raj, inarguably, the strongest force of Indian women's cricketing circle, found herself in awe-inspiring form with six back-to-back fifties before coming into the World Cup opener against England at Derby. She was also the pivot around whom Indian Women team forged many successful stories in last one year and so. A lot was expected from her in the opener and she didn’t disappoint.

After a biltzy opening stand by the openers, Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Raut, who milked 144 runs in 26.5 overs, Raj kept piling the pressure on the English by hitting fours and taking singles effortlessly. Despite having a slow start to her innings, Raj completed her 48th half-century, which is itself a world record, in the 46th over. Despite the record, she kept scoring runs at will to take the Asian nation to a comfortable score of 281/3 before perishing to her English counterpart Heather Knight for 71. 

If India are being considered as a force to be reckoned with in this edition of the World Cup, much of those energies are radiating from Raj. She also finds herself at the brink of another record of overtaking the England batter Charlotte Edwards in terms of most ODI runs.