Rohit Sharma's graceful willow continued its day job of breaking world records as India warmed up nicely for their World Cup semifinal, decimating Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their final group league match in Leeds on Saturday.
The Indian vice-captain (103 off 94 balls) scored his fifth hundred in a single World Cup edition as India surpassed the Sri Lankan total of 264/7 in 43.3 overs and finished their league engagement with seven wins.
Ironically enough, whenever Angelo Mathews—who also hit a century—showed his grit against India, Sharma has inevitably overshadowed him in his inimitable style. It happened in Mohali in 2017 when his double hundred overpowered Mathews's century.
K.L. Rahul (111 off 118 balls), however, would have no complaints after scoring his maiden World Cup ton as he had the best seat in the house while playing the perfect support cast.
Sharma's artistry was at a different level as he bled the Sri Lankan bowling, especially Lasith Malinga (1/82 in 10 overs) with a thousand cuts.
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The 14 boundaries and two sixes could be part of any highlights package.
When Sharma finally got out, he was only 26 runs short of Sachin Tendulkar's highest aggregate (673 runs in 2003 edition) of runs which is up for grabs in the semifinal.
Earlier, Mathews again turned out to be a thorn in India's flesh with a gutsy hundred after a top-order collapse, guiding Sri Lanka to a respectable 264 for 7.
The former Sri Lanka captain (113 off 128 balls) played a near perfect knock with his back to the wall, to give his team a chance to fight which looked bleak after first hour.
Jasprit Bumrah (3/37 in 10 overs) was fast, accurate and mostly unplayable but Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/73 in 10 overs) had a forgettable day.
Mathews, who has now scored all his three ODI hundreds against India (Mohali and Ranchi earlier), hit 10 fours and two sixes in his final knock of this competition.
—PTI
