Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma put together 219 runs for the second wicket. (Source: PTI)
Virat Kohli struck 131 runs from 96 balls and Rohit Sharma blazed away to 104 runs from 88 runs before being dismissed in Colombo in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka. The duo put together 219 runs for the second wicket to take India from 6/1 at one stage, following Shikhar Dhawan’s dismissal, to 215/2 in the 30th over when Kohli became Lasith Malinga’s 300th ODI dismissal. In fact, the last time Kohli won the toss and opted to bat in an ODI, Rohit went on to score 264 (in Kolkata) so it would be disappointing for the Mumbaikar to not go beyond the 104 runs.
In the 29th over, Kohli and Rohit were cruising along comfortably, dispatching the Sri Lankan bowling, once again, to all corners of the field and not giving anything away. On a hard, flat Premadasa Stadium pitch, the ball came nicely on to the bat and a quick outfield further aided the Indian batting. At that stage, India were 225 for 1 with the ODI record total of 444 looking under threat.However, that was allayed later when both Kohli and Rohit fell. India went to score 375 with MS Dhoni scoring an unbeaten 49 runs and Manish Pandey struck 50 runs not out.
Virat Kohli becomes the youngest batsman (28 years and 299 days) to score 2000 runs against an opposition in ODIs. #SLvIND
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) 31 August 2017
Back to back 100 well done shaana @ImRo45 👌and captain knock @imVkohli 👌 @msdhoni 👌@im_manishpandey 👌superb batting.proper chittar parade😜
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) 31 August 2017
It is starting to look like a clearance sale at the Premadasa. Lots of runs on offer and Kohli and Rohit aren’t in the mood to say ‘enough’
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 31 August 2017
It is starting to look like a clearance sale at the Premadasa. Lots of runs on offer and Kohli and Rohit aren’t in the mood to say ‘enough’
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 31 August 2017
India have already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. However, Sri Lanka need to win both the matches to book a direct berth for the 2019 World Cup in England.
