July 7, 2019 by admin

ROHIT LEEDS INDIA TO TOP OF TABLE

Leeds, July 6

The 92nd ball he faced, Rohit Sharma got a short one from Kasun Rajitha — the Indian opener rocked back and bulleted a pull right to the fence at the square leg boundary. That stroke, his characteristic and run-heavy pull, took Rohit to 102 —no nervous 90s for the Indian opener, for he struck two fours in the 90s.

Rohit, thus, made his fifth century of this World Cup, his third in a row, and India romped to their eighth win of the World Cup. The target of 265 set by Sri Lanka was hopelessly inadequate as his opening partner, KL Rahul, added the second 100 of the Indian innings, and the third of the day.

Full value

In the morning, a latecomer outside the gates of the stadium wondered if 125 pounds was too high a price to pay to get into the stadium, to watch his beloved India live at a ground for the first time. “OK, I’d buy the ticket,” he said, for he was hoping to see a 100 by Virat Kohli.

But it was Rohit who got a 100, becoming the first batsman ever to score five centuries in one World Cup. He’s in excellent touch — this was his fifth century in the last eight innings; India’s match against New Zealand at Nottingham had been washed out by rain, denying Rohit the opportunity to get runs than the 647 he has in the tournament. His five 100s and one 50 have helped India fill the breach caused by the injury-induced absence of his regular opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan.

The pitch today was a featherbed, the bowling lacked teeth, and Rohit was off to a flying start when Kasun Rajitha gave him width and length to unleash a four past point. That got him going, and he followed up with beautiful drives straight and through the cover region. The Sri Lankans gave him hit-me balls, and he hit them all over — balls on the pads were glanced to the fine leg region, or fuller ones were turned to the boundary behind the square on the leg side. Rohit struck two sixers, both off Dhananjaya de Silva, when the off-spinner invited him to the front foot by flighting the ball.

Soon after getting his 100, Rohit fell when he ballooned a catch to mid-off off a slower ball from Rajitha. But the result of the match was beyond doubt then — at 189 in the 31st over, India were well on the way.

Mathews’ ton

Angelo Mathews made a fine 113 to put a crumbling Sri Lankan innings together after they won the toss and chose to bat first. Mathews is a stalwart of Sri Lankan cricket, and his poor form at the start of the tournament cost the team dear — he had started with 0, 0 and 9 before the 85 not out helped the Lankans defeat England here at Leeds.

Injury has robbed him of the allrounder tag, for he couldn’t bowl for a long time. But he’s a very important part of the batting line-up, and his first World Cup 100 was key in Lanka not getting bowled out for less than 200 today.

Rohit is assured of at least one more match at the tournament, the semifinals; India’s fans would want Rohit to get another 100 in that game, and then get another chance for another 100, this time in the final. Rohit said today’s 100 is past, he’s yearning for two in the next two innings.

I wasn’t thinking about milestones, my job is to keep my head straight and get the team towards the finishing line. When you are in, shot selection becomes very important, I try to calculate how I want to go forward, and it has paid dividends. You have to be disciplined in batting and I’ve learned from my mistakes in the past. Rohit Sharma

We wanted to play good cricket but didn’t expect 7-1 outcome. More or less everything is set for the semis, but we don’t want to be one-dimensional. We have to turn up on the day and put in another performance. For us the opposition never matters, if we don’t play well anyone can beat us, if we play well we can beat anyone. Virat Kohli

265 India’s successful chase vs Sri Lanka. Only one 250-plus target out of 23 targets has been successfully chased in this World Cup, by Bangladesh vs West Indies (322)

1ST Player — Rohit Sharma — to make five centuries in a single World Cup. He has the most Man of the Match awards (4) in the 2019 World Cup

647 Runs by Rohit Sharma in 2019 World Cup. He is just 26 runs away from Sachin Tendulkar’s 673 runs scored in 2003

69.78 Rohit’s batting average in 16 innings, the highest for a minimum of 15 innings. AB de Villiers (63.52) is placed second (22 inns) and Michael Clarke (63.42) is third (21 inns)

1ST Team — India — to have four century opening stands in a World Cup edition. Rohit and Rahul are the second set of openers to score 100s in the same innings in World Cup

3RD Highest wicket-taker — Lasith Malinga — ended his World Cup career. He is the only bowler to take 10-plus wickets in four editions. Malinga is the only bowler to take four wickets in four balls, and the only bowler to take two hat-tricks in World Cups