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In a display of unbelievable hunger and power, star Indian batter Rohit Sharma brought up his 50th international century during the successful 237 run-chase against Australia in the third ODI at Sydney on Sunday, becoming only the third Indian batter and overall 10th batter to do so.
Following a disappointing eight-run knock at Perth, Rohit ground it out during a 97-ball 73 at Adelaide and finally went full throttle during the third ODI, smashing 121* in 125 balls, with 13 fours and a six. His runs came at a strike rate of 96.80. Rohit is the third Indian to achieve this feat, with Sachin Tendulkar (100 centuries) and Virat Kohli (82 centuries) above him. This was also his 33rd ODI ton. The 'Hitman' top-scored in the series with 202 runs in three matches and innings at an average of 101.00 and a strike rate of 85.59, with a century and fifty each. In 11 ODIs this year, he has scored 504 runs at an average of 50.40, with a strike rate of 97.86, including two centuries, two fifties and a best score of 121*. Rohit has 12 Test centuries, 33 ODI tons and five in T20Is, making him only batter to have five or more centuries in each of three formats of the game. Rohit also went above Virat Kohli (five centuries in 32 innings) to register his 6th century in Australia in 33 innings by a visiting batter, the most by anyone. 'Hitman' also registered his ninth century against Australia and equalled Tendulkar as the most hundreds by an Indian player against Australia. in ODIs. Rohit also overtook former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly (11,363 runs) to become the ninth-highest ODI run-getter, with 11,370 runs in 276 matches and 268 innings at an average of 49.22, with 33 centuries and 59 fifties and a best score of 264. Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. A 61-run stand between skipper Mitchell Marsh (41 in 50 balls, with five fours and a six) and Travis Head (29 in 25 balls, with six fours) started off things for Australia. Matt Short contributed a knock of 30 in 41 balls, with two fours, and a 59-run stand between Matt Renshaw (56 in 58 balls, with two fours) and Alex Carey (24 in 37 balls, with a four) took the Aussies to 183/3. But from there, Aussies collapsed to 236 all out in 46.4 overs, with Harshit Rana (4/39 in 8.4 overs), Washington Sundar (2/44) being the pick of the bowlers and Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav getting one each. In the 237 run-chase, India was off to a solid start with a 69-run opening stand between Shubman Gill (24 in 26 balls, with two fours and a six). From there, something happened that fans had waited for all series, as Rohit Sharma (121* in 125 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Virat Kohli (74* in 81 balls, with seven fours) put on an unbeaten 168-run partnership and achieved several milestones, winning the match with nine wickets still in hand. Rohit won the 'Player of the Match' award and the 'Player of the Series' award as well. (ANI)
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