India vs. Sri Lanka, 4th ODI, 2014: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
Rohit Sharma became the first man in ODI history to hit 250 runs as he inspired India to a comfortable 153-run victory over Sri Lanka in Thursday's fourth one-day international.
Rohit also secured the elusive tag of becoming the only player to reach 200 runs twice in ODI competition after scoring an incredible 264 from 173 balls.
B/R UK posted a prominent image from the match:
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Having already secured the series with a slew of powerful performances against Sri Lanka, the Eden Gardens match provided India a chance to impress in relaxed conditions. Rohit's appearance was his first ODI action in 10 weeks, reported by Andrew Fidel Fernando of ESPNcricinfo, who also reported he "started with a touch of nerves."
He quickly destroyed this suggestion. The 27-year-old hit an incredible 33 fours and nine sixes to not only surpass the 200 mark, but to set a new record. His influence allowed the rest of India's lineup to bat loosely, as noted below:
| Rahane | lbw | b Mathews | 28 | 30 | 24 |
| Ro Sharma | c M Jayawardene | b Kulasekara | 264 | 225 | 173 |
| Rayuda | b Eranga | 8 | 24 | 19 | |
| Kohli | run out (Prasanna) | 66 | 110 | 64 | |
| Raina | c M Jayawardene | b Mathews | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| Uthappa | not out | 16 | 49 | 16 | |
| Extras | 1nb 10w 0b 0lb | ||||
| Total | for 5 (50.00 ovs) | 404 | |||
| Kulasekara | 9.0 | 0 | 89 | 1 | |
| Mathews | 8.0 | 1 | 44 | 2 | |
| Eranga | 10.0 | 0 | 77 | 1 | |
| T Perera | 5.0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |
| Prasanna | 10.0 | 0 | 70 | 0 | |
| A Mendis | 7.0 | 0 | 70 | 0 | |
| Dilshan | 1.0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Rohit's confidence grew after a relatively low-key century (if there is such a thing). He began to find the middle of the bat with regularity, clearing the rope on several occasions with the aid of some questionable fielding.
Things could have been so different. Shaminda Eranga found Rohit's outside edge before the ball carried to Thisara Perera at third man. He was unable to make the catch, dropping Rohit on four, providing the smidgen of luck needed for the Indian batsman to put together his astonishing run.
Seekkuge Prasanna also missed a simple catch with Rohit on 201 in the 46th over. The batman's class selection of shots deserved a stroke of fortune, hammered home by ESPNcricinfo's breakdown of Rohit's every shot:
India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the encounter through injury, but admired his team-mate from afar:
Virat Kohli offered further resistance for Duncan Fletcher's side, adding a decent 66 to Rohit's landmark score, per Fernando.
The pair posted 202 together before Kohli was run out, but in truth, the damage had been done at this point. Robin Uthappa produced just 16 of the 158 runs notched during his 58-ball partnership with Rohit, as the headline-grabber continued to shine.
Sri Lanka were simply unable to answer. Their scorecard can be seen below:
| K Perera | c Sharma | b U Yadav | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Dilshan | c Raina | b Binny | 34 | 41 | 33 |
| Chandimal | c Raina | b Binny | 9 | 19 | 13 |
| M Jayawardene | lbw | b U Yadav | 2 | 10 | 5 |
| Mathews | st Uthappa | b A Patel | 75 | 87 | 68 |
| Thirimanne | c Kohli | b Kulkarni | 59 | 114 | 69 |
| T Perera | c Uthappa | b Kulkarni | 29 | 38 | 29 |
| Prasanna | c A Patel | b Kulkarni | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Kulasekara | c Rayudu | b Kulkarni | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| A Mendis | c Sharma | b A Patel | 4 | 21 | 12 |
| Eranga | not out | 12 | 18 | 15 | |
| Extras | 0nb 10w 0b 6lb | ||||
| Total | for 10 (43.1 ovs) | 251 | 251 | ||
| U Yadav | 8.0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
| Binny | 8.0 | 0 | 55 | 2 | |
| Kulkarni | 10.0 | 1 | 34 | 4 | |
| Sharma | 9.0 | 1 | 64 | 0 | |
| A Patel | 7.1 | 0 | 51 | 2 | |
| Raina | 1.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Skipper Angelo Mathews top-scored for his side in their attempt to chase down the massive target set for them as he hit 75 runs off 68 balls.
Lahiru Thirimanne also claimed a half century batting at No. 6, hitting seven fours on his way to 59 before Kohli caught him off the bowling of Dhawal Kulkarni.
However, the lack of an early partnership after the failure of the opening four batsmen—only Tillakaratne Dilshan reached double figures with 34—and a flurry of late wickets saw the Sri Lankans fall a long way short as they were all out for 251 and lost by 153 runs.
The two sides will meet for the final ODI of the series in Ranchi on Sunday, and the visitors need to pick themselves up if they are to reclaim some dignity after Thursday's heavy loss and avoid a whitewash.
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