Rohit Sharma broke the record for most sixes hit in men’s ODIs as India defeated South Africa by 17 runs in the opening game of their series in Ranchi.
After being invited to bat, India scored 349-8 with Virat Kohli scoring a record 52nd ODI century with a brilliant inning of 135 runs off 120 balls.
He made a partnership of 136 runs for the second wicket with Rohit, who scored 57 runs in 51 balls.
Rohit, who already holds the record for most sixes across all formats in international cricket (now 642), hit three sixes to surpass Shahid Afridi’s 15-year-old record of 351 ODI sixes.
When the former captain was out in the 22nd over, India’s score was 161-2 and scoring runs in the middle overs became even more difficult, but Kohli brilliantly stopped the host team.
He also shared a 76-run partnership with stand-in captain KL Rahul, who took over the responsibility after Kohli’s dismissal and scored 60 runs off 56 balls.
In reply, South Africa slipped to 11-3 and 130-5, but Matthew Britzke (72 from 80) and Marco Johnson (70 from 39) gave them hope with a 97-run partnership.
Both were dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav in the 34th over and South Africa’s hopes seemed to be ending at 228-7.
However, Corbin Bosch (67 off 51 balls) partnered with Prenellan Subreyan and Nandre Berger, both of whom scored 17 runs, leaving the Proteas needing 37 runs from 18 balls.
Bosch was farming the strike and turning down singles with 18 runs left in the final over, but he skied Prasidh Krishna’s second ball to cover.
The second game of the three-match series will take place on Wednesday (08:00 GMT).
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