India v South Africa: Rohit Sharma breaks record for most sixes in a Test
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Rohit Sharma made his first start at opener in his 28th Test
First Test, Visakhapatnam (day four of five) |
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India 502-7 dec (Agarwal 215, Rohit 176) & 323-4 dec (Rohit 127) |
South Africa 431 (Elgar 160, De Kock 111, Ashwin 7-145) & 11-1 |
South Africa need 384 runs to win |
India's Rohit Sharma became the first batsman to score two hundreds in his maiden Test as opener while also breaking the record for the most sixes in a Test as India continued to dominate South Africa.
Having made 176 in the first innings, Rohit hit 127 on Saturday as India set South Africa 395 to win in Visakhapatnam.
South Africa closed day four of the first Test on 11-1 - opener Dean Elgar, who made 160 in the first innings, falling to spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
Rohit finished with 13 sixes, surpassing the 12 hit by Pakistan's Wasim Akram against Zimbabwe in 1996.
He smacked six sixes in his first innings and seven in his second knock, while Wasim hit all 12 in an unbeaten 257 at Sheikhupura.
Rohit, 32, has an excellent record as a one-day international opener, having scored 27 centuries, but had not been able to replicate that success playing as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket.
He had made three centuries in his previous 27 Tests at an average of 39.62, but in his first start as an opener he put on 317 for the first wicket with Mayank Agarwal, who made 215 as India declared on 502-7.
South Africa made 431 in response, a deficit of 71, thanks to centuries from Elgar and Quinton de Kock.
Despite prodigious turn on day four, Rohit played fluently to reach 127 off 149 balls, also hitting 10 fours.
Most sixes in a Test | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Player | Sixes | Against | Year |
Rohit Sharma (Ind) | 13 | South Africa | 2019 |
Wasim Akram (Pak) | 12 | Zimbabwe | 1996 |
Nathan Astle (NZ) | 11 | England | 2002 |
Matthew Hayden (Aus) | 11 | Zimbabwe | 2003 |
Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 11 | Pakistan | 2014 |
Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 11 | Sri Lanka | 2014 |
Ben Stokes (Eng) | 11 | South Africa | 2016 |
His final total of 303 runs in the match is the most ever by a batsman in their maiden Test as opener, surpassing Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan, who made 215 against New Zealand in Galle in 2009.
Rohit also became the only the second India opener to hit twin hundreds in a match after Sunil Gavaskar, who did it three times, and the sixth India batsman overall, with Vijay Hazare, Rahul Dravid (twice), Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane also having achieved the feat.
He is also the first India batsman to be stumped in both innings of a Test, each time off Keshav Maharaj, having never previously been stumped in his first-class career.
With the rest of India's line-up attacking to set up the declaration, the hosts ended with 27 sixes in the match - the most by one team in a Test, beating New Zealand's 22 against Pakistan in Sharjah in 2014.