Rohit Sharma's double ton lights up Bangalore sky

Bangalore: Befitting the festival of lights, Diwali, dashing Indian opener Rohit Sharma Saturday set the M. Chinnaswamy cricket stadium on fire here with a flurry of 16 sixes and scored a double century (209) against Australia in the last and final One-day International (ODI) of the series.Put in to bat after Australian skipper George Bailey won the toss and elected to field, the in-form Sharma became the third cricketer to score a double century in the one-day format after compatriots Sachin Tendulkar and former opener Virender Shewag.Incidentally, only Indian batsmen hold the world record of scoring double centuries in the 50-over version of the game.Tendulkar remained 200 not out in an ODI at Nagpur Feb 24, 2010 playing against South Africa, while Shewag holds the highest record of 219 scored Dec 8, 2011 at Indore.Sharma's innings was studded with 12 fours and 16 sixes. It was a record for most sixes in an innings. Of the 19 sixes hit all-round the stadium during India's innings, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni accounted for two while Yuvraj Singh struck one.Sharma's scintillating knock of 209 came in 158 balls. He was also involved in two big partnerships, including a whopping 167 for the six wicket with Dhoni and 112 with other opener Shikhar Dhawan, who made 60 in 57 balls with nine fours but no six.In fact, in the second six of Dhoni, executed by a helicopter shot, a trademark of the Indian wicketkeeper, the ball went over the stadium roof from long-on, forcing the umpires to get a new ball for resuming play.Sharma has been in and out of the Indian team but his fortunes have turned around dramatically since he has started opening. Along with Shikhar Dhawan, the Mumbai right-hander has cemented the opening slot in ODIs.Sharma has scored 589 runs in his last 10 innings, averaging 84.14. Before the start of this match, he had scored 2,840 runs in 107 matches at an average of 34.63. The 26-year-old is yet to make his Test debut.“Sharma's innings was fantastic and worth the money I paid to watch the match. He played amazing shots and some of his sixes were incredible. Though he took time to settle, it was exciting to watch him to go after the Aussie attack in the slog overs, which took the Indian score to a commanding 383 for 6,” George Cherian, a techie, told IANS in the pavilion.Unmindful of hot and humid conditions, thousand of frenzied fans flocked to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon to watch a cracker of contest between India and Australia, the top two teams in the ICC rankings.Being played on weekend and on a festival day, the decider game lured a capacity crowd of over 30,000 to fill the stands in the first hour of the game despite travails of frisking and stringent security measures.When word went out that India would bat first though Dhoni lost toss, there was a scramble at all the 20 gates to enter the stadium from the serpentine queues that were a mile long.“As we were eager to watch our openers (Sharma and Dhawan) bat from start, we came to the venue very early and were in hurry to get into the stadium before the first ball was bowled because the duo have been in great form during this series,” Ganpati Subramanian, an avid fan of the Indian team, told IANS here in the eastern stands.Sudden downpour interrupts play for 25 minutesThe fickle Bangalore weather was at it again, as the sky opened up and the gathering clouds gave way to a sudden downpour 70 minutes into the game when Sharma and Dhawan were at crease and India was at 107 for no loss in 17 overs. With a blazing sun playing hide-and-seek with darkening clouds, the unpredictable rain stopped play for 25 minutes, forcing players to run for cover while grounds men ran into the middle to protect the pitch from rain gods.Though 25 minutes of the game was lost, umpires Nigel Llong and S. Ravi declared that India would play its full quota of 50 overs, bringing relief to fans, many of whom came in hordes flagging the Indian tri-colour and sporting T-shirts of Indian team's men in blue.The sudden disruption, however, cost India heavily, as Dhawan, who got into groove with nine striking fours, was bowled leg before (LBW) by left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty on the last ball of the 19th over for 60 in 57 balls.With in-form Sharma, Dhawan had put up 112-run opening partnership in 114 balls before he misjudged a turning spin ball and was plumbed.Kohli's dramatic run out stuns die-hard fansA foolish mix-up in the middle cost India heavily, as vice captain Virat Kohli was run out for duck when Sharma at the non-striking end failed to cross over the 22 yards in the 20th over, stunning die-hard fans who waited eagerly for long to watch the danger man go against the Aussie attack.Coming into bat at the fall off Dhawan, Kohli was looking for a run after facing two dot balls of Clint McKay, when Nathan Coulter-Nile at mid-off stopped a straight shot and flung the ball to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, who whipped the bails even before the desperate Kohli could return to the crease as Sharma chose to remain at the other end.“There was actually no run off that ball as it passed by the bowler (McKay) and was stopped by Nile in the inside circle at the bowler's end and risky for Kohli who ran from the batting crease before Sharma could decide to run,” sports analyst Govindraj said.