The ominous touch of the India batters doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon as they continue to torment opposition bowlers with their magnificent strokeplay. The latest victim to their onslaught are the Netherlands as India flexed their batting muscles at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on the festive occasion of Diwali to script an elusive ODI World Cup record.
The top five batters of India - Shubman Gill (51 off 32 balls), Rohit Sharma (61 off 54 balls), Virat Kohli (51 off 56 balls), Shreyas Iyer (fifty plus) and KL Rahul (fifty plus) made the most of the batting conditions at the Chinnaswamy and aggregated fifty plus totals to create all-time World Cup record. It is the first instance when the top-five batters of a team have all racked up fifty-plus scores in a World Cup game.
The carnage started off with Shubman and Rohit denting the Dutch attack front. Shubman was quick to get off the blocks as he reached his fifty off just 30 balls. His partner and India captain Rohit took 44 balls to reach his half-century and recorded his 100th fifty in international cricket.
Shubman's knock was studded with three fours and four sixes. It came at a strike rate of 159.37 and set the tone for the remaining batters to follow. Unfortunately, for the India fans, none of the top-three batters i.e. Rohit, Shubman and Virat managed to reach the three-figure mark despite getting off to remarkable starts.
Virat, in particular, was marching towards his 50th ODI century and could have surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the batter with the most ODI centuries ever but the 35-year-old missed a flatter one from Roelof van der Merwe that skidded after pitching and disturbed the furniture. Virat's knock included five fours and a maximum as he paced his innings at a strike rate of 91.07.
