India’s top order hit fifties which was then followed by sparkling tons from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul as the home side posted a mammoth 410/4 at the Chinnaswamy stadium against Netherlands. Opting to bat first in their final league game before the semifinal, India put on a show with Rahul in particular breaking the record for the fastest World Cup ton by an Indian batter.
Skipper Rohit Sharma wasted no time to get going as he played two similar shots over backward square leg to fetch two boundaries from the first three balls. Aryan Dutt was picked apart by both Rohit and Shubman Gill as he was taken out of the attack after just three overs. Gill then overtook Rohit briefly after an assault on Logan Van Beek as India brought up their 50 in just six overs. Gill, who had smashed a six out of the stadium at the start of his innings, added three more enroute to his 30-ball fifty as the openers brought up their century stand.
However, Gill couldn’t cash in on that start as he pulled Paul van Meekeren to get caught near the boundary in excellent fashion. Rohit, who managed to bring up his fifty soon after and took his tournament tally past the 500-run mark again, suffered the same fate. In his attempt to smash Bas de Leede out of the ground, Rohit mistimed one to get caught for 61. Virat Kohli, who was struggling to get going until that point, took charge.
Batting on 7 off 18 at one point, Kohli brought out a rare sweep shot against Dutt that got him a boundary before Van Beek was smashed for a six and a four off successive balls. The boundaries kept flowing with Shreyas also getting into his groove as Kohli became the highest run-getter of the tournament and brought up his seventh fifty-plus score. But like the openers, Kohli also failed to convert that start into a big score as Roelof van der Merwe got one to breach his defence and knock the top of off stump.
It was then Iyer’s turn to bring up his fifty as India set themselves up for a final flourish. By the end of the 40th over, India had 284 on the board and looked good for a massive total. When Rahul brought up his half-century off 40 deliveries, it was the first time India’s top five had managed fifty-plus scores in the same innings. The two batters then put on a show at the death with Iyer in particular tonking huge sixes.
Having made 77 and 82 in the last two games, Iyer finally managed to bring up his first-ever World Cup century. It was the first time an Indian No.4 reached three figures in the World Cup since Yuvraj Singh’s ton in Chennai against West Indies in the 2011 edition. Rahul then went berserk and hammered Logan van Beek for a four and a six off successive deliveries and by the end of the 47th over, there was a real belief that he too could register a century.
Iyer gave van Beek a real hiding in the penultimate over of the innings by tonking him for three sixes as the bowler ended up conceding 25 runs in the over to finish with figures of 0/107. With 11 to get in the final over, Rahul thrilled the crowd by sending two sixes over the ropes of the first two deliveries to break Rohit’s record which was set earlier this edition. India could have also broken the record for their highest total in the World Cup after Rahul’s 62-ball ton but the wicketkeeper-batter’s dismissal ensured they fell three short.
Brief scores: India 410/4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 128*, KL Rahul 102, Rohit Sharma 61; Bas de Leede 2/82) vs Netherlands
