Rohit Sharma did not make any alterations to his brand of cricket that has been widely talked about throughout the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. Rohit tried to take the attack to the opposition and succeeded in doing that against Australia’s new-ball bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Despite his opening partner Shubman Gill’s wicket, Rohit helped India break the all-time record of fastest team fifty in a World Cup final. He had support from Virat Kohli as well who scored a hat-trick of boundaries as India crossed the fifty-run mark.
India completed fifty runs from just 39 balls. The previous record was held by their opponents Australia who completed fifty runs from seven overs in the World Cup 2003 final. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden went after Indian bowlers in Johannesburg to create the record for the fastest team fifty in an ODI World Cup final.
Earlier, Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field first at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After a quiet first over from Starc, Rohit took on Hazlewood and hit him for two boundaries. Gill survived against Starc as the edge did not carry to the first slip fielder who was standing a little back. Rohit continued to take risks on the slow pitch. He hit the first six in the fourth over. The skipper stepped down the ground to get to the ball and hit a boundary. In the fifth over, Starc got the wicket of Gill for a single-digit score.
But Rohit did not stop and ended the fifth over with a maximum. No boundaries were scored in the sixth over. In the seventh over, Kohli hit Starc for three consecutive fours as India crossed the fifty-run mark. In the 10th over, Rohit took on Glenn Maxwell for a six followed by a four. However, he missed his half-century again. He departed after scoring 47 runs from 31 balls including four fours and three sixes.
Despite missing his half-century, Kohli broke New Zealand captain Kane Williamson's record. Rohit now holds the record for most runs by a captain in a World Cup edition. The 36-year-old scored 597 runs from 11 innings at an average of 54.27 including one century and four half-centuries. Williamson had scored 578 runs from nine innings in World Cup 2019 at an average of 74.97 including two centuries.
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