Smiling assassin

Indore, December 22

Rohit Sharma bludgeoned the Sri Lankan attack with a record-equalling 35-ball century and powered India to a series-sealing 88-run win in the second Twenty20 International here today. Rohit equalled South African David Miller’s record en route his sparkling 118 that propelled India to a colossal 260/5 after being sent in to bat.

There was never a dull moment as long as Rohit was at the crease as he pulled, cut and drove the clueless Lankan bowlers at will. In the process, he raised a 165-run stand for the first wicket, the highest for India, with Lokesh Rahul, who scored 89 off 49 balls. Rohit, always revered as a special talent, is gradually creating his own legacy as he is the only batsman to have scored three double centuries in ODIs, and now has two T20I hundreds to his name.

The hosts shot out the Lankans for 172 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, rendering the third T20I in Mumbai on Sunday inconsequential. Kusal Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with a 37-ball 77, but the visitors were out of the game after Rohit’s blitzkrieg. They maintained a decent run-rate but it was never going to be enough. From being 145/1 in 13.1 overs, they collapsed to 172 in 17.2 overs. Once the 109-run second-wicket partnership between Upul Tharanga (47 off 29) and Perera was broken by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4/52), the Lankan innings fell apart.

Incredible hitting 

In an incredible display of hitting, the Indian captain smashed 12 fours and 10 sixes during his 43-ball stay at the crease. Before being caught at short third man off Dushmantha Chameera, Rohit left the Lankans shell-shocked and the home fans delighted at the jam-packed Holkar stadium, hosting its first T20 International.

Rahul, who was dropped on six, was also impressive with his stroke-making, especially with the sixes in the ‘V’. He missed out on his hundred, though, caught by stumper Niroshan Dickwella off Nuwan Pradeep in the 19th over. His knock had five fours and eight sixes.

The Indian openers literally toyed with the Lankan pacers, who ended up leaking 43 runs in the first five overs. The Lankans pacers had neither pace nor discipline to trouble the Indians. Desperate to rein in the Indians, skipper Thisara Perera brought on off-spinner Akila Dananjaya in the sixth over of the innings, but he ended up conceding 16 runs in his first over. The Indian captain completed his fifty with a six off Asela Gunaratne and followed it up with another maximum and two fours as the Lankans bled runs. There was no stopping Rohit as he cruised to his hundred in the 12th over with a four off Angelo Mathews. This was after hitting his counterpart for four consecutive sixes in the previous over.

After his departure, former skipper MS Dhoni and Rahul raised a 78-run partnership. Dhoni scored 27 off 21 balls with two fours and as many sixes. — PTI

Players with two centuries in T20Is

Chris Gayle

Brendon McCullum

Evan Lewis

Colin Munro

Rohit Sharma

Most sixes in int’l cricket in a year

64 Rohit Sharma (2017) 

63 AB de Villiers (2015) 

59 Chris Gayle (2012) 

57 Shane Watson (2011) 

56 Shahid Afridi (2005)

Twitterati

First T20 200 by an individual and the highest team score, both records in danger of being broken tonight! Rohit is just painting the big hits like an artist. — R Ashwin

What a stunning century it was from Rohit Sharma. 35-ball 100. May this purple patch continue. —VVS Laxman 

Rohit Sharma ! Mazaak bana rakha hai yaar. It ain’t this easy yaar. — Virender Sehwag

India’s top T20I score

India’s 260 is their highest score in T20Is, improving on the 244 they made against West Indies last year. Here are the all-time top T20I totals: 

Score Match

263/3 Aus vs S Lanka, 2016

260/6 SL vs Kenya, 2007

260/5 Ind vs S Lanka, 2017

248/6 Aus vs Eng, 2013

245/6 WI vs India, 2016

244/4 India vs WI, 2016

Rohit’s record 100

Rohit Sharma’s 118 is the top score by an Indian batsman in T20Is. These are the 5 top scores by Indians in T20Is:

Score Batsman and Match

118 Rohit Sharma vs SL, 2017

110* KL Rahul vs WI, 2017

106 Rohit Sharma vs SA, 2015

101 Suresh Raina vs SA, 2010

90 Virat Kohli vs Aus, 2016

Scoreboard

India 

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s

R Sharma c D’jaya b Chameera 118 43 12 10

KL Rahul c Dickwella b Pradeep 89 49 5 8

MS Dhoni b Perera 28 21 2 2

H Pandya c S’wickrama b Pradeep  10 3 1 1

S Iyer lbw b Perera 0 1 0 0

M Pandey not out 1 1 0 0

D Karthik not out 5 2 1 0

Extras: (lb 3, w 6) 9 

Total: (For 5 wkts in 20 overs) 260

FOW: 1-165, 2-243, 3-253, 4-254, 5-255      

Bowling O M R W

Angelo  Mathews 2.2 0 16 0

Dushmantha  Chameera 4 0 45 1

Nuwan Pradeep 4 0 61 2

Akila Dananjaya 3.4 0 49 0

Thisara Perera 4 0 49 2

Chaturanga de Silva 1 0 16 0

Asela Gunaratne 1 0 21 0 

Sri Lanka

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s

N Dickwella c Pandya b Unadkat 25 19 2 1

U  Tharanga c & b Chahal 47 29 3 2

K  Perera c Pandey b Yadav 77 37 4 7

T Perera c Pandya b Yadav 0 1 0 0

A Gunaratne st Dhoni b Yadav 0 1 0 0

S S’wickrama st Dhoni b Chahal 5 2 1 0

PC de Silva b Chahal 1 2 0 0

A Dananjaya c Pandey b Chahal 5 3 1 0

D Chameera b Pandya 3 5 0 0

N Pradeep not out 0 5 0 0

A Mathews absent hurt -

Extras: (LB 2, W 7) 9

Total: (All out in 17.2 overs) 172

FOW: 1-36, 2-145, 3-155, 4-156, 5-161, 6-162, 7-164, 8-170, 9-172   

Bowling O M R W

Jaydev Unadkat 3 0 22 1

Jasprit Bumrah 3 0 21 0

Kuldeep Yadav 4 0 52 3

Hardik Pandya 3.2 0 23 1

Yuzvendra Chahal 4 0 52 4