Stand-in India skipper Rohit Sharma doesn’t stop scoring. He yet again entered the record books after notching up his second T20I century against Sri Lanka on Friday. With this feat, he became the joint-fastest centurion equalling South African batsman David Miller’s record. Both batsmen took 35 balls to reach their respective centuries. Weeks after scoring his third double hundred in ODIs, Rohit continued his dominance with the bat in the limited-overs format. Rohit hit a mind-boggling 11 fours and 8 sixes in the run-up to his century.
It appears Rohit loves batting against the Lankans and his records against the island nation is a testament to this fact.
Here’s a look at the quickest T20I hundreds:
35 balls – Rohit Sharma and David Miller
45 balls – Richard Levi
46 balls – Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul
47 Balls – Aaron Finch/Chris Gayle
35 balls – Rohit Sharma and David Miller
45 balls – Richard Levi
46 balls – Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul
47 Balls – Aaron Finch/Chris Gayle
Rohit, however, was dismissed for 118 runs off only 43 runs. He hit 12 fours and 10 sixes to reach his 118 at an astonishing batting strike-rate of 274.42. He was foxed by Sri Lanka’s Dushmantha Chimaera’s slower delivery and was caught by Akila Dananjaya.
Sri Lanka used seven bowlers but nothing prevented them from Rohit’s onslaught with the bat. Barring Angelo Mathews, the other six visiting bowlers were hammered by Rohit and Lokesh Rahul in equal measure.
Rahul also notched up his third T20I half-century in 35 balls with four boundaries and three sixes to his name. The 165 run partnership between Rohit and Rahul is the highest partnership for India and the fourth highest overall in T20Is. Rahul eventually fell to a brilliant catch by Lankan keeper Niroshan Dickwella for 89 runs off 49 balls. He hit five boundaries and eight sixes to reach his score.
India finished the innings with their highest T20I score of 260/5 in 20 overs.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rohit became the second Indian after Virat Kohli to score 1,500 runs in T20 Internationals. Rohit got to his landmark in the first of the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka played at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack.
