OTD: Australia women’s cricketer Belinda Clark became the first cricketer (men and women) to cross the 200-run mark in ODI cricket in 1997

This day marks a historic moment in cricket as the former Australian captain Belinda Clark made the first double century in ODI cricket. She wrote this piece of history against Denmark in the 1997 Women’s World Cup in Mumbai. The match between the two teams turned out to be a mismatch as Australia dominated the match throughout and Belinda Clark led the team from the front with her batting masterclass. 

First Innings 

The Australian skipper won the toss and opted to put runs on the board for Denmark. Belinda Clark opened the innings with Lisa Keightley and gave Australia a brilliant 168-run partnership for the first wicket. Clark was the aggressor in this partnership and took on the bowlers right from the word go and put pressure back on Denmark bowlers. After Keightley’s departure, Karen Rolton played a crucial part in progressing the innings with the skipper and the momentum did not slow down as Rolton complemented Belinda Clark in terms of strike rate. 

At the end of the first innings, Australia posted 412 runs on the board and more than half of those runs came from Belinda Clark’s bat. She ended up with 229 runs in her account and created the record for the highest individual score in an innings in ODI cricket. Karen Rolton assisted her captain with a half-century and helped Australia almost blow Denmark out of the contest. 

Second Innings

It was a humongous target for Denmark which was made even tougher by the Australian bowling. The Danish team got off to a horrible start as they lost half of their side for just 21 runs. The collapse did not stop and Denmark got all out for a miserable total of 49 runs. Karen Rolton contributed with the ball as well and picked up 3 wickets to back up her batting performance in the first innings. 

Australia registered a gigantic victory by 363 runs and the captain Belinda Clark was adjudged the player of the match for her historic knock. 

Also read: Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman added 303 runs for the fifth wicket to help India reach 523 in the Test series against Australia