Bristol: A superb unbeaten century from Rohit Sharma guided India to a seven-wicket win over England in the third T20I at Bristol, sealing a 2-1 series victory for his side.
Sharma struck five sixes and 11 fours off 56 balls as India chased down the target of 199 with eight balls to spare to finish on 201/3.
England made a flying start after being put in to bat, with Jason Roy (67) and Jos Buttler (34) sharing an opening stand of 94 in under eight overs. Roy smashed 7 sixes and 4 fours before Alex Hales (30) and Jonny Bairstow (25) chipped in with useful contributions to lift the hosts to an imposing total of 198/9.
Unfortunately for England, the Indian batsmen also enjoyed the bright sunshine and short boundaries in Bristol. Lokesh Rahul (19) was brilliantly caught by Chris Jordan running back from mid-on and the all-rounder took another outstanding catch to dismiss India captain Virat Kohli off his own bowling for 43.
But Sharma continued to flay the ball all around the ground with a mixture of raw power and sweet timing, finishing on 100 not out before leaving the field to a standing ovation. Apart from Sharma and Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya also played a stellar role in the win with a four-wicket haul and an unbeaten 33 off just 14 balls.
Rohit Sharma becomes the first player to score three hundreds in each format of international cricket.
He’s the only second batsman after New Zealand’s Colin Munro to make three centuries in T20I cricket.
Brief scores:
England 198-8 (20 overs): Roy 67, Pandya 4-38;
India 201-3 (18.4 overs): Rohit 100*, Kohli 43.
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