Indian opener Rohit Sharma steered India to a comfortable win over South Africa in the chase to a target of 228 in their first game of the tournament on Wednesday. India did face some difficulties in the chase but Rohit batted till the end of the innings, ensuring a win for Men in Blue to kick off their campaign.
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On his way to scoring 122* in the chase, Rohit leapfrogged former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on the list of most tons in ODIs. The century against South Africa was Rohit’s 23rd ton in this format.
Ganguly had scored 22 centuries in his ODI career and Rohit took over the former India captain on the list. He now sits third on the list of most centuries, behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
Tendulkar tops the list with 49 ODI centuries. Next to him is Kohli, who has already scored 41 centuries. He is expected to go past Tendulkar soon. Rohit is way behind Tendulkar and has a tough task to reach closer to his record.
Meanwhile, India registered an emphatic win over Proteas at The Rose Bowl in Southampton. After being asked to bowl first, India had a brilliant start as Jasprit Bumrah sent back SA’s openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla in first six overs.
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Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen did put up 54 runs for the third wicket but Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed the duo in 20th over. In total, he scalped four wickets in his 10-over spell for 51 runs. South Africa could have been dismissed before 200 but contributions from Andile Phehlukwayo (34), Chris Morris (42) and Kagiso Rabada (31*) saw them register 227 on the board.
Much was expected from Shikhar Dhawan after his poor form in practice matches but the left-handed batsman continued his dry run wand was dismissed on 8 off 12. Vira Kohli was looking set at the crease but Phehlukwayo got him caught on 18. Rohit continued to hold the other end and took the charge. KL Rahul (26) though did not play big innings but stayed there with Rohit.
MS Dhoni (34) also took the back seat while Rohit was doing his job. In the end, India chased down the total with six wickets and 15 balls to spare. They will now face Australia in one of the biggest matches of World Cup on Sunday.