Rohit Sharma Shines with 61st ODI Fifty in India vs South Africa Clash
Rohit Sharma's Stellar Performance
In Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Rohit Sharma achieved his 61st fifty in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) during the third match against South Africa. Partnering with Yashasvi Jaiswal, he contributed to a century partnership for the first wicket, marking the 35th occasion he has been part of a 100-run opening stand.
Opening the innings alongside Jaiswal, the former Indian captain scored 75 runs off 73 deliveries. Together, they formed a remarkable 155-run partnership at a run-a-ball pace while chasing a target of 271.
With this achievement, Rohit Sharma now ranks second on the all-time list for century opening stands in ODIs, only behind Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record with 40.
The 155-run partnership between Rohit and Jaiswal stands as India's second-highest opening partnership against South Africa in ODIs, surpassed only by the 193-run partnership between Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in Johannesburg in 2001.
During his innings, Rohit also crossed the milestone of 20,000 international runs, hitting seven fours and three sixes. He was eventually dismissed by Keshav Maharaj in the 26th over, while Jaiswal later celebrated his first ODI century.
Earlier in the match, India won the toss and opted to field first. The South African team lost Ryan Rickelton for a duck, but a solid 113-run partnership between Quinton de Kock (106 runs off 89 balls, including eight fours and six sixes) and captain Temba Bavuma (48 runs off 67 balls, with five fours) followed. De Kock also shared a 54-run partnership with Matthew Breetzke (24 runs off 23 balls, hitting two sixes). However, the Proteas faltered, losing five wickets for 199 runs, with Prasidh Krishna taking 4 wickets for 66 runs. Dewald Brevis (29 runs off 29 balls, with two fours and a six) and Marco Jansen (17 runs off 15 balls, with two fours) attempted to counterattack, but a strong performance from Kuldeep Yadav (4 wickets for 41 runs) led to South Africa being bowled out for 270 runs in 47.5 overs, after being in a promising position at 234/5.