- Rohit Sharma is the first player to score two ODI double centuries
- His 264 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, came off just 173 balls
- The innings overtakes Virender Sehwag's 219 against West Indies
- India set Sri Lanka 405 for victory at 8.10 an over to win their fourth ODI
- Sharma's score alone beat the 251 Sri Lanka managed before being all out
Rohit Sharma scored the highest ever
individual score in a one-day international and became the first player
to score two career double centuries in a 50-over match with 264 against
Sri Lanka.
The sensational innings on
a batsman-friendly Kolkata came off 173 balls with 33 fours and nine
sixes, and only ended on the last ball of India's innings as Sharma
holed out in the deep.
Sharma said he
was 'ready to bat another 50 overs' after walking off the Eden Gardens
with his side on a formidable 404 for five after winning the toss and
batting first. His score alone would have won the match by 13 runs after
the visitors were all out in the 44th over for 251.
Sri Lanka were made to pay for dropping
the destructive 27-year-old in the fifth over with his tally just four
runs at the time.
Sharma's innings
demolishes Virender Sehwag's previous record of a 149-ball 219 against
the West Indies in 2011. Sharma also has the third top score in ODIs
with his 209 off 158 balls against Australia in November last year.
Sharma's
knock got off to a modest start with the opener reaching his hundred in
even time, with his first 50 off 72 balls and his second 50 in a swift
28 deliveries.
From then it was a
procession for the right-hander. His third 50 took 25 balls and the 50
up to his 200 took just 26 deliveries. With the end in sight, and Sharma
looking to cash in knowing 350 is an achievable target at this ground,
he reached 250 in a further 15 balls.
TOP 10 ODI INNINGS OF ALL TIME
1) ROHIT SHARMA (India) 264 (173 balls) v Sri Lanka, November 13, 2014
2) VIRENDER SEHWAG (India) 219 (149 ball) v West Indies, December 8, 2011
3) ROHIT SHARMA (India) 209 (158 balls) v Australia, November 2, 2013
4) SACHIN TENDULKAR (India) 200* (147 balls) v South Africa, February 24, 2010
5) CHARLES COVENTRY (Zimbabwe) 194* (156 balls) v Bangladesh, August 16, 2009
6) SAEED ANWAR (Pakistan) 194 (146 balls) v India, May 21, 1997
7) VIV RICHARDS (West Indies) 189* (170 balls) v England, May 31, 1984
8) MARTIN GUPTILL (New Zealand) 189* (155 balls) v England, June 2, 2013
9) SANATH JAYASURIYA (Sri Lanka) 189 (161 balls) v India, October 29, 2000
10) GARY KIRSTEN (South Africa) 188* (159 balls) v UAE February 16, 1996
'Once
I got to 50 I knew I had to make a century because it was a good
batting wicket and we knew 350 was easily chaseable. That made me stay
there as long as possible,' Sharma said on Sky Sports 2.
'It is important to look at the team score as that is how you build an innings.'
Had
opening bowler Nuwan Kulasekara been given his full allocation of 10
overs he could have made a century of his own after going for 89 runs
off nine overs at a rate of 9.88.
His
only consolation was that it was off his bowling that Sharma's wicket
fell, with the rampant 27-year-old finding the safe hands of Mahela
Jayawardene instead of the middle of his bat.
Coming
into this match, Sharma had scored 142 for an India A side ina warm-up
against the Sri Lankans - his last knock before that was in August
against England in Cardiff where he injured his hand.
Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are the only other players to have reached 200 in an ODI.
One
record Sharma fell short of was for the highest score for a
limited-overs match, falling a single shot along the ground short of
Alistair Brown's 268 for Surrey in 2002.
India
got off to the perfect start with the ball, removing Sri Lankan opener
Kusal Perera without scoring with the third ball of their first over.
Despite
a mid-innings fightback from Angelo Mathews (75) and Lahiru Thiramine
(59) the target proved a task too great and India took a 4-0 series lead
with one match remaining.
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