Rohit Sharma smashed his way to a magnificent unbeaten 171 as India piled up an imposing 309 for 3 against Australia in the first ODI of the five-match cricket series, here today. En route his ninth ODI hundred, the stylish right-hander from Mumbai broke a plethora of records, including the one where he surpassed Sir Vivian Richards' 153 which has been the highest individual score against Australia in an ODI Down Under for the last 37 years. Rohit faced 163 balls hitting 13 boundaries and seven huge sixes.
He also added 207 runs for the second wicket with vice-captain Virat Kohli (91), who missed a well-deserved hundred. The Indian vice-captain hit 9 boundaries and a six. Australia got a taste of Rohit's blazing blade especially towards the end when India scored 61 off the last five overs.
Their partnership was the highest second for India against Australia in the ODIs surpassing the previous best of 199 set by Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman in Indore back in 2001. The Rohit-Kohli combination tore apart an inexperienced Australian attack as their debutant duo of left-arm fast bowler Joel Paris (0/53 in 8 overs) and right arm medium fast Scott Boland (0/74 in 10 overs) were taken to the cleaners. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (9) and Rohit had a tough ask during the start as dense clouds had gathered over the WACA.
Josh Hazlewood (1-41) got off to a wayward start and Rohit capitalised on it in style. At the other end, local boy Paris (0-53) made a decent start to his international career, but then the Indian openers got the better off him too. Rohit looked good from the word go, and Dhawan ought to have played second fiddle but he didn't seem comfortable at the crease.
He was out caught off a mistimed pull shot in the 7th over off Hazlewood, with the score reading 36/1. Kohli then walked in and the Australian bowlers weren't given a breath of relief. The partnership got off to a cautious start, especially as the new batsman looked to settle in.
But the two batsmen ran hard between the wickets, and Rohit got the boundaries easily, his swivel-six off Paris a highlight. The 50-mark came up in the 10th over, and thereafter runs came at a canter. Kohli got into his groove nicely with two glorious boundaries in the 10th over off Paris, one through mid-wicket and the other down the ground.
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