Rohit Sharma Achieves Milestone in ODI Against South Africa
Rohit Sharma's Remarkable Performance
During the third ODI match between India and South Africa in Visakhapatnam, Rohit Sharma celebrated his 61st fifty in One-Day Internationals (ODIs). He partnered with Yashasvi Jaiswal to create a century partnership for the first wicket, marking the 35th occasion he has achieved an opening partnership of over 100 runs.
Record-Breaking Opening Stand
Opening the innings with 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 during India's chase of 271 runs. This achievement places Rohit Sharma second on the all-time list for century opening stands in ODIs, just behind Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record with 40.
Historic Partnership Against South Africa
The 155-run partnership between Rohit and Jaiswal is now recorded as India's second-highest opening partnership against South Africa in ODIs, only surpassed by the 193-run partnership between Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in Johannesburg in 2001. Rohit also crossed the significant milestone of 20,000 international runs during his innings, hitting seven fours and three sixes before being dismissed by Keshav Maharaj in the 26th over. Jaiswal later achieved his first ODI century in the match.
South Africa's Batting Struggles
Earlier in the match, India won the toss and opted to field first. South Africa lost Ryan Rickelton without scoring, 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 added a 54-run partnership with Matthew Breetzke (24 runs off 23 balls, with 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 bowling 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 for 5.