Not done yet, Rohit’s ton lights up Lord’s

LONDON: Who said he was done? Former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma struck a 83-ball century, becoming the first Indian to score a century at Lord’s in the 50-over format in the series-deciding third ODI here on Sunday.

India’s reply started off in the best possible manner, as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scripted a 147run stand for the opening wicket. However, the problem was that neither of them were forcing the pace, with Gill’s 77 coming off 84 balls before his dismissal.

However, Rohit ensured that he was up for the long game, as the right-hander smashed a sizzling ton, keeping India in hunt. Kohli too stamped his authority, with three glowing boundaries in the run chase, as Indian bowlers let 387 in the first innings.

Earlier, the four-pronged pace attack comprising Prasidh Krishna (2/69 in 10 overs), Arshdeep Singh (0/72 in 10 overs), Prince Yadav (1/79 on 10 overs) and Gurnoor Brar (0/97 in 10 overs) struggled in those conditions.

Duckett and Bethell (91 off 93 balls) were fantastic in terms of planning and execution. The batting powerplay of first 10 overs yielded 58 runs but the wheels came off between overs 11 to 30 when they literally ran the bowlers ragged. Joe Root (74 no off 48 balls) continued his golden run of form with another half-century— his third in three games—to take the total past 350-run mark.

Jos Buttler (41 no off 13 balls) also joined in the fun. In all, the Indian bowlers conceded 42 boundaries and six sixes.

BRIEF SCORES: England 387/3 in 50 overs (Duckett 141, Bethell 91, Root 74; Prasidh 2/69) vs India 218/1 in 33 overs (Rohit 109 no, Gill 77) at the time of going to press