With 600 runs and five tons, Rohit Sharma makes the World Cup his own

With his latest effort, the Mumbai batsman matched Sachin Tendulkar's tally of six hundreds in the World Cup.

Photo: BCCI/Twitter

Rohit Sharma scored a record fifth century, and his third in a row, in the ongoing World Cup as he steered India to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Leeds on Saturday.

Chasing 265, Sharma forged a 189-run opening stand - the highest for India in their World Cup history - with KL Rahul before departing for a 94-ball 103 laced with 14 fours and 2 sixes. It was his sixth hundred in the World Cup, a record.

"I wasn't thinking about milestones, my job is to keep my head straight and get the team towards the finishing line," Sharma said. "When you are in, shot selection becomes very important, I try to calculate how I want to go forward, and it has paid dividends.

"Every day is a new day, I start fresh, I try to think I've not played any ODIs, not got any hundreds in the tournament. The challenge as a sportsman is to keep your head straight."

With his latest ton, the Mumbai batsman became the first player to craft five centuries in a World Cup, surpassing Kumar Sangakkara's tally of four in the 2015 edition. In this year's World Cup, Sharma has scored centuries against Bangladesh, England, Pakistan and South Africa.

He matched Sachin Tendulkar's total of six World Cup centuries in just 16 matches, against the Master Blaster's 45 games, and is now closing in on Tendulkar's tally of the most number of runs scored in a single edition of the tournament.

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