Rohit Sharma smashes record 5th T20 ton in dead tie vs Afghanistan

FOLLOWING two consecutive ducks, India captain Rohit Sharma made a strong statement in the third T20 against Afghanistan at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday (17) by slamming an unbeaten hundred.

After coming to open the innings after winning the toss and electing to bat, Sharma smashed 121 not out in just 69 balls even as wickets kept falling around him. The hosts, who have already clinched the three-match series by winning the first two games, were reeling at 22 for 4 in the fifth over with two of the top five batters getting dismissed for golden ducks, one for one and one for four.

It was then when swashbuckling left-hand batter Rinku Singh joined his captain and the duo added an unseparated partnership of 190 runs, 152 of which came in the last 10 overs. India finished at 212 for 4 in their stipulated 50 overs. Singh remained unbeaten on 69 runs off just 39 deliveries.

Read: Rohit Sharma screams at Shubman Gill after getting run out in Afghanistan T20

The century saw Sharma going to the top of the list of batters with the most number of centuries (five) in the shortest white-ball format. Suryakumar Yadav, another hard-hitting India batter who is not playing in the current series, and Australia's Glenn Maxwell have four centuries each. The 36-year-old Sharma's previous hundred in T20s came in November 2018 when he scored an unbeaten 111 in 95 balls against the West Indies in Lucknow at home.

Sharma is also the second-highest run getter in T20s with 3,974 runs from 151 matches, trailing his teammate Virat Kohli who has 4,037 from 116 outings.