Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant 92-ball hundred as India registered a comfortable 7-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their last group match at Leeds, Headingly on Saturday.
In the process, the ‘Hit Man’ also went past Kumar Sangakkara’s record of most hundreds in a single edition of the World Cup with his 5th of this tournament.
Rohit also became the second Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to aggregate over 600 runs in a single edition of the World Cup.
He was eventually out for 103, an innings embellished with 14 fours and 2 sixes.
Rohit’s opening partner KL Rahul too scored his first World Cup century off 109 balls with 9 fours and a six. Rahul was dismissed for 111 after he was caught by Kusal Pereira off Malinga.
Their opening stand of 189 was the highest in this World Cup so far and laid the foundation for the Indian run chase.
Kohli and Hardik Pandya then saw India home after Pant fell cheaply for 4.
For the Sri Lankans, Malinga, Rajitha and Udana picked up one wicket each while Thisara Perera was the most economical giving away just 34 runs off his 10 overs.
With this win, the Indians moved to the top of the table with 15 points. Sri Lanka, who had already bowed out of the tournament, finished their World Cup campaign in 6th spot with 8 points.
Earlier, opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a terrible start as Jasprit Bumrah sent back Dimuth Karunaratne for just 10 in the fourth over, caught by MS Dhoni.
The out of form Kusal Perera flattered to deceive once again as he hit a 14-ball 18 before being sent back to the hut by Bumrah, once again caught by Dhoni.
Next to go was Avishka Fernando as Pandya had him caught by Dhoni for a 21-ball 20. With the score on 55/4 and Lanka in trouble, Thirimanne joined Mathews and the two focused on stitching a partnership together.
Mathews was handed a life in the 37th over when Bhuvneshwar dropped him off Jadeja. He was batting on 61 then.
But the Indians finally struck in the 38th over as Kuldeep dismissed Thirimanne, caught by Jadeja, with the scoreboard reading 179/5. Mathews was finally dismissed for 113 in the 49th over by Bumrah as Sri Lanka managed to score just 64 runs in the last 10 overs.
With IANS inputs