ENG vs IND: Rohit Sharma becomes first Indian to hit 250 ODI sixes
Jul 13, 2022
Kennington [UK], July 13 : Rohit Sharma on Tuesday became the first Indian batter to smash 250 sixes in the one-day international (ODI) format.
The Indian skipper got to this landmark during the first ODI against England at The Oval in Kennington on Tuesday.
In the match, Rohit played a fantastic knock of 76* off just 58 balls, in which he hit seven fours and five sixes.
A six on a delivery bowled by pacer Brydon Carse in the 19th over helped Rohit reach the landmark. He hooked the second ball of the over through the fine leg area.
Now, he has the fourth-highest number of sixes in ODIs, behind Sanath Jayasuriya (270), Chris Gayle (331) and Shahid Afridi (351).
A match-winning spell of 6/19 by Bumrah and Rohit Sharma's half-century helped India gain a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against England after a ten-wicket win in the first ODI.
Put to bat first, England could post only 110 runs on the board as pacers Jasprit Bumrah (6/19) and Mohammed Shami (3/31) destroyed their batting attack. Pacer Prasidh Krishna also took a wicket. Jos Buttler (30) and David Willey (21) were the only ones who could deliver notable contributions. The day simply did not belong to the English batting line-up as heavyweights like Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jason Roy and Joe Root were dismissed without making much impact. Indian bowlers made the best of the English weather conditions, swing and seam movement offered by the wicket.
A chase of 111 runs was a cakewalk for India as the opening duo of Rohit Sharma (76*) and Shikhar Dhawan (31*) never gave the English team a chance and took India to the finishing line with more than 32 overs to spare by ten wickets. Their stand also helped them accomplish 5,000 overall partnership runs as openers in ODI cricket, placing them at number four behind Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden and Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly.
