Sharma shatters shaky Sri Lanka
The result means India have completed a Test, ODI and T20 series sweep over the Sri Lankans, who have won just one ODI during the whole tour.
Sharma’s innings set new records aplenty as he was eventually removed off the bowling of Dushmantha Chameera on 118 having faced just 43 balls. It was the highest individual T20 international score by an Indian, the first century by an Indian captain in the format and his ten sixes moved him to 64 maximums in this calendar year — another record as he overtook AB de Villiers’ 63 set in 2015.
“The stage was set and there were good conditions and I just tried to do what I always do. I’ve been working hard on batting through the line for months now and I had fun out there today,” Sharma said.
“I just tried to get as many runs as possible, but it was also great watching (Lokesh Rahul) batting at the other end,” he added. When asked about his spin bowling attack, the Indian captain was full of praise. “I have a lot of faith in my spinners and they’ve been bringing us back in games for months now. Those two guys kept their heads up and they got the results, they changed the game completely,” he said.
Sharma was helped by poor Sri Lankan fielding, which has become a theme of the tourists’ series in India. Once Sharma had departed, his opening partner Lokesh Rahul carried on the onslaught. His assured 89 helped the hosts reach 260 for five, just three runs shy of the highest T20 international score ever posted by Australia against the Sri Lankans last year.
With the highest successful chase in T20 internationals at 236, the visiting side were always facing an uphill battle to overturn such a daunting deficit. And so it proved this time despite a brave showing from Upul Tharanga and Kusal Perera whose second wicket stand of 106 gave the visitors a faint glimmer of hope. In the end, however, the mammoth total was a step too far, especially after Perera’s dismissal for 77 runs saw his side collapse from 145 for one to 167 for seven in the space of just eleven deliveries.
The victory was wrapped up in the 18th over as Hardik Pandya took the ninth Sri Lankan wicket, with Angelo Mathews unable to bat.
“It’s been a really tough series for us and it was just too much to chase down today,” Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera said afterwards.
LONDON: Rohit Sharma smashed the joint quickest international T20 century to blast India to an 88-run victory over Sri Lanka in Indore on Friday as they clinched the three-match series in the process. Sharma hit 100 runs in just 35 balls, which equalled South African David Miller’s effort against Bangladesh last month.