Rohit lights up St Lucia as India post 205-5

India skipper Rohit Sharma went berserk at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia on Monday, smashing his best-ever score in T20 World Cups in a crucial Super Eight fixture against Australia.

Rohit, however, fell just eight runs short of a century, departing after a belligerent 41-ball 92 with seven boundaries and eight maximums as India made 205 for five in 20 overs after being put into bat first.  

Rohit's carnage also bodes well for Bangladesh, who will be hoping for India to beat Australia in order to stay alive in the tournament despite the Tigers' convincing losses against both India and Australia in their first two Super Eight games. A big-margin win for India against Australia would also mean the Tigers could eke into the semifinals with a comprehensive win over Afghanistan in St. Vincent today.  

It seemed as if Rohit was on course for setting the record for the fastest-ever century in T20 World Cups, which still belongs to West Indies' Chris Gayle for his 47-ball ton against England in a Super 10 game at Wankhede Stadium in the 2016 edition of the mega event.

Rohit also became the first batter to go past 200 sixes in T20Is, taking his tally to 203 maximums in 149 innings. He is also way ahead of the second cricketer in the list, New Zealand's Martin Guptill, who hit 173 sixes in 118 T20I innings.

While Rohit subdued the growing criticism on him for not providing the goods with the willow this tournament, that was not the case for star batter Virat Kohli who failed to open his account during a five-ball stay yesterday.

After Rohit provided India the initial momentum with a brisk 87-run second-wicket stand with Rishabh Pant (15 off 14) and another quickfire 34-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 16), India's middle-orders batters also stepped on the pedal to help their cause.

Hardik Pandya smashed  unbeaten 17-ball 27 while Shivam Dube struck 22-ball 28 as India posted a daunting total.