India skipper Rohit Sharma has levelled Chris Gayle in the list of most sixes in ODIs. He is now at the joint-second position with 331 sixes to his name and only Shahid Afridi is ahead of him now with 351 maximums in the format. Rohit needed only two sixes to surpass Gayle but the former could only one on his way to 35 runs off 20 balls.
Rohit had a great chance to go past the legendary West Indies batter but he got out in an attempt to smash the left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage in the 8th over of the innings. For the unversed, India are chasing 249 runs in the third and final ODI to avoid their first series loss at the hands of Sri Lanka in a bilateral series since 1997.
Most sixes in ODIs
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) – 351 sixes
Rohit Sharma (India) – 331 sixes
Chris Gayle (West Indies) – 331 sixes
What happened in the first innings of the 3rd ODI?
Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted 248 runs in their 50 overs for the loss of seven wickets on the back of a strong start from openers Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando. The latter scored 96 runs before getting out and this is when India made a strong comeback. Sri Lanka were sitting pretty at 171/1 in the 36th over and they collapsed to 199/6 in the space of eight overs.
Riyan Parag, making his ODI debut, was the pick of the bowlers for India as he returned with figures of 3/54 in his nine overs.
Meanwhile, team India is struggling in the 249-run chase as they have lost four wickets for just 70-odd runs as Virat Kohli is also back in the hut. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel along with debutant Riyan Parag are key for the visitors.