Rohit's record 5th century in single World Cup takes India to cakewalk win over Lanka
Leeds: Rohit Sharma Saturday became the first batsman in the world to score five hundreds in a single World Cup with a magnificent 103 against Sri Lanka here, eclipsing former Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara's earlier record of most centuries in a single edition. Rohit hit a 94-ball 103 for his fifth century of this World Cup from nine matches, which took him one more than Sangakkara, who has four hundreds to his name during the 2015 edition.
"He (Rohit) has done something for others to follow. He is still hungry for runs," Sangakkara said while commentating for the match. The stylish Indian opener also equalled Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar in the total number of World Cup hundreds. Both the Indians have six hundreds to their names.
The 32-year-old Rohit is likely to go past Tendulkar in the highest number of runs in a single World as he has already scored 647 runs from nine matches, just 26 short of the record 673 in the name of Sachin Tendulkar during the 2003 World Cup.
K L Rahul too slammed a brilliant century as India won their last World Cup league fixture, defeating Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Leeds. Chasing 265, Sharma and Rahul gave India a flying start and demolished the Sri Lankan attack scoring runs all over the ground. Sharma fell to Kasun Rajitha as Sri Lanka got the first breakthrough after a 189-run opening stand, the highest in this tournament, in the 31st over. Rahul then scored his maiden World Cup ton as India secured an easy victory.
India finished the league round with 15 points as they won seven matches and lost one while the game against New Zealand was washed out due to rain.
Earlier, Angelo Mathews rescued his side from a top-order collapse and slammed a powerful century as Sri Lanka posted 264/7. After electing to bat, Sri Lanka were reduced to 55/4 by the Indian bowlers. But Mathews (113) and Lahiru Thirimanne's (53) solid fifth-wicket stand kept India at bay and powered Sri Lanka to a challenging total.
