On this day in 2019 – Rohit Sharma’s century guides India to a convincing win over South Africa

The 2019 World Cup was a disheartening campaign for the Indian cricket team, but it was very fruitful for the current Indian skipper and opening batter Rohit Sharma. In the nine games that India played throughout the campaign, Sharma scored a total of five centuries and a half-century to amass a whopping 648 runs.

On this day in 2019, when India faced South Africa, Rohit unleashed the beast within him from the word go. After the Proteas batters put up a target of 228 runs, Rohit’s century led the team to start their World Cup campaign on a positive note. India had a poor start to the game as opener Shikhar Dhawan had to walk back to the pavilion early, and Indian batters struggled to score runs.

Though Rohit Sharma was slow in his innings, he showcased great composure on the field and remained unbeaten throughout the game, scoring 122 runs in 144 deliveries. While no other batter could go past 35 runs, Rohit helped the Indian team to sail past South Africa.

Watch the highlights here:

India won seven out of the eight league games, losing only against hosts England. After bagging two successive wins, India’s match against New Zealand was abandoned without a ball being bowled, but the Men in Blue kept the winning streak on and went on to win five consecutive games in the league stage. Even after losing to England, they bounced back stronger to win the next two games and qualified for the semi-finals.

Rohit was the top performer for the Indian team as he batted at a brilliant average of 81.00. He started off on a high note in the first three games before his form declined in the games against Afghanistan and West Indies. But he did not let the two low scores affect his growth graph as he smashed a magnificent ton to get back into form. However, India’s campaign would come to an end with a heart-breaking loss against New Zealand in the semi-final.