Bengaluru: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hit record fifth century in T20 internationals in the third match against Afghanistan at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru today. He scored 121 not out off 69 balls with the help of 11 fours and 8 sixes. Moreover, he forged an unbroken partnership of 190 runs with Rinku Singh (69 off 39, 2X4s, 6X6s) after the hosts were reduced to 22/4 within fifth over. India have set a target of 213 for the visitors.
Rohit opted to bat first after winning the toss. However, India were reduced to 22/4 , as Fareed Ahmad and Azmatullah Omarzai made it difficult for Indian batters to repeat their previous two match performances. Last match’s half-centurian duo Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 off 6) and Shivam Dube (1 off 6) perished early while Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper Sanju Samsan got out for golden ducks.
Rohit and Rinku not only arrested the rot but also steered the innings with calculated attacks. Indian innings got the much needed propel in the last 5 overs that yielded 103 runs. Both the batters hit the last over of the innings for 36 runs.
with this century Rohit Sharma became the first to score 5 centuries in T20Is. Surya Kumar Yadav and Glenn Maxwell are behind him with 4 centuries each.