New Delhi: Indian opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, today, became the third on the list of Indian pairs with the most 100-plus opening stand in one-day international cricket, when they stitched a phenomenal 109-run stand against Sri Lanka in the second ODI match, at Pallekele International Stadium. ( SL vs IND,2nd ODI: LIVE BLOG )
Staring at a modest target of 237 runs put forth by the Sri Lankan side, Indian opening duo Dhawan and Rohit stepped in. The latter wasn't much of a hope for the Indian fans at Pallekele owing to his previous records against the Islanders. Rohit's last 10 innings summed up to an abysmal 37 runs while Dhawan is at his peak against the hosts. He is the first Indian batsman to hit six consecutive 50-plus scores against Sri Lanka.
But Rohit started off with a ravishing punch down covers for a boundary. There were drives, cuts, pulls and even scoops as the right-handed batsman turned out to be the aggressor tonight. Finally, in the 15th over of their innings, Rohit Sharma struck a single to notch up his 32nd ODI fifty, his fastest ever. His 45-ball 54, laced with five boundaries and three sixes was also the highest against the Sri Lankan side considering his last 10 innings.
His partner, Shikhar Dhawan struck six boundaries and one six to reach 49 runs from 50 deliveries, but unfortunately missed out on his half century. The southpaw ergo failed to become the second batsman to notch up seven consecutive 50-plus scores against any team in ODI cricket.
It was in the last delivery of the 15th over of their innings that Rohit had struck a boundary to bring up their 100-run stand, coming off from just 90 deliveries. Their 11th in total, from 63 innings. The duo dubbed as Jai and Veeru, now stands third on the list of Indian opening pair with most 100-plus stands in ODI cricket. They stand one behind Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, but leading the chart is Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar with 21 such knocks.
Overall, they stand 12 on the list of most 100-run stands alongside former Indian duo of Rahul Dravid-Ganguly and Dravid-Tendulkar. Leafing the chart is the formidable pair of Ganguly and Tendulkar with 26 century stands.
As for the match, shortly after their dismissals in the 17th over, the tourists squandered to seven down. Akila Dananjaya spun a havoc to bag a six-fer as skipper Virat Kohli, Kedar Jadhav, KL Rahul, all departed in succession. MS Dhoni is currently at the crease along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, aiming to take India through.
