Rohit hits record fifth WC century

Rohit hits record fifth WC century

LEEDS, United Kingdom: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma became the first player to hit five centuries in a single World Cup as he put India on course for a comfortable win against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Saturday.

Sharma reached the milestone with a boundary off Kasun Rajitha to pass the mark set by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who scored four hundreds at the 2015 tournament.

He reached his century off 92 balls with 14 fours and two sixes but was dismissed shortly afterwards, caught by Angelo Mathews off the bowling of Rajitha for 103.

Sharma, known as the “hitman”, now leads the tournament’s run-scoring charts with 647 runs in eight matches after hitting his third successive century.

He is only the fourth batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and Shakib Al Hasan to score more than 600 runs at a single World Cup.

The attacking batsman put on 189 runs for the opening wicket with KL Rahul to put India well on course to reach their target of 265.

Earlier, Angelo Mathews hit a gritty century to lift Sri Lanka to 264 for seven after a top-order collapse against India on the final day of the World Cup group stage.

Mathews made 113 and put on 124 runs for the fifth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne to give Sri Lanka a respectable total after they were reeling on 55 for four at Headingley.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah removed openers Dimuth Karunaratne (10) and Kusal Perera (18) inside eight overs after Sri Lanka, who are playing for pride after missing out on the semi-finals, won the toss and elected to bat.

Bumrah returned impressive figures of 3-37 in his 10 overs as India, who are already qualified for the semi-finals, restricted Sri Lanka with some quality bowling.

Kusal Mendis was stumped off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who is playing his first match of the competition, before paceman Hardik Pandya had rising star Avishka Fernando caught behind for 20.

The right and left-handed batting combination of Mathews and Thirimanne rotated the strike and got the occasional boundary to keep the score ticking.

Thirimanne registered his 21st ODI fifty but soon fell to Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin on 53 after giving away a catch to point.

Score Board

Sri Lanka

D. Karunaratne c Dhoni b Bumrah 10

K. Perera c Dhoni b Bumrah 18

A. Fernando c Dhoni b Pandya 20

K. Mendis st Dhoni b Jadeja 3

A. Mathews c Sharma b Bumrah 113

L. Thirimanne c Jadeja b Yadav 53

D. de Silva not out 29

T. Perera c Pandya b Kumar 2

I. Udana not out 1

Extras (b4, lb2, nb1, w8) 15

Total (seven wickets, 50 overs) 264

Bowling: Kumar 10-0-73-1 (w3), Bumrah 10-2-37-3 (w2), Pandya 10-0-50-1 (w1), Jadeja 10-0-40-1, Yadav 10-0-58-1 (w1)

Toss: Sri Lanka

Umpires: Paul Wilson (AUS), Ian Gould (ENG)

TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG).

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/494864-rohit-hits-record-fifth-wc-century