BANGALORE, Nov 2 (PTI) Rohit Sharma smashed his way into the record books with a stunning 209 as the Indian cricket team provided the perfect Diwali gift to the nation with a 57-run victory in the series-deciding ODI final against Australia to clinch the rubber 3-2 here tonight.
The 26-year-old Sharma gave a breathtaking display to power India to an imposing 383 for six before the hosts bowled out Australia for 326 in 45.1 overs at the jam-packed Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Chasing a mammoth total, Australia made a spirited effort with all-rounder James Faulkner blasting a 73-ball 116, the fastest century by an Australian in ODIs. While Faulkner hit 11 fours and six over-boundaries, Glenn Maxwell pulverized the Indian bowlers on his way to a 22-ball 60 that contained seven sixes.
Staring at a heavy defeat at 138 for six, Faulkner played a blinder as Australia made a dramatic recovery to give their chase respectability. He was involved in a record ninth wicket stand of 115 runs with Clint McKay.
Earlier, enroute his 158-ball-209, Rohit created a world record by hitting as many as 16 sixes along with 12 fours. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (62) and Shikhar Dhawan (60) scored brisk half-centuries.
This is the first instance when India have won a seven-match ODI series against the Aussies.
While Rohit scored his first 100 off 114 balls, the next hundred came off only 42 deliveries. All the sixes were clean straight hits in the arc between deep extra-cover and deep mid-wicket. There was minimum muscle and maximum timing in each and every six that he hit.
Put into bat by Australian skipper George Bailey, the home team rode on Rohit�s brilliant batting display which was complemented by his opening partner Dhawan (60) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who batted in his customary style smacking a 38-ball-62 with seven fours and two sixes.
Rohit and Dhoni added a staggering 167 runs for the fifth wicket in only 15.4 overs at an average of 10.65 while the opening partnership again proved to be productive, yielding 112 runs.
The men who missed out included Virat Kohli (0) and the two horribly out-of-form players Yuvraj Singh (12) and Suresh Raina (28).
While another in-form batsman Kohli was run-out for duck without scoring and looked angry, the Delhi star was the most vocal in his applause when Rohit reached his individual milestone.
Having got a second wind after being promoted as an opener, Rohit also completed 1000 runs in ODIs this year at a very impressive average of 50 plus.
Rohit Sharma won both man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards.
SCORECARD
India: Rohit c sub (Henriques) b McKay 209, Shikhar lbw b Doherty 60, Virat run out 0, Raina lbw b Doherty 28, Yuvraj c Haddin b Faulkner 12, Dhoni run out 62, Jadeja not out 0. Extras: (LB-5 W-7) 12. Total: (For 6 wkts in 50 overs) 383. Fall of wickets: 1-112, 2-113, 3-185, 4-207, 5-374, 6-383. Bowling: Clint McKay 10-0-89-1, Nathan Coulter-Nile 10-0-80-0, James Faulkner 10-0-75-1, Shane Watson 5-0-26-0, Xavier Doherty 10-0-74-2, Glenn Maxwell 4-0-32-0, Aaron Finch 1-0-2-0.
Australia: Finch lbw b Shami 5, Hughes c Y Singh b Ashwin 23, Haddin b Ashwin 40, Bailey run out 4, Voges b Shami 4, Maxwell c Jadeja b V Kumar 60, Faulkner c Dhawan b Shami 116, Watson c Shami b Jadeja 49, Coulter-Nile c Kohli b Jadeja 3, McKay b Jadeja 18, Doherty not out 0. Extras: (lb-1, w 2, nb 1) 4. Total: (all out in 45.1 overs) 326. Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-64, 3-70, 4-74, 5-132, 6-138, 7-205, 8-211, 9-326. Bowling: B Kumar 8-1-47-0, M Shami 8.1-0-52-3 R Vinay Kumar 9-0-102-1, R Ashwin 10-0-51-2, R Jadeja 10-0-73-3.
