HAZARE TROPHY | A Rohit special dazzles Sikkim and the spectators

Rohit Sharma came, won hearts and eventually scored a century to guide Mumbai to a eight-wicket win against Sikkim in a Group C fixture of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

With more than 20,000 spectators cheering for Rohit at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Wednesday, he entertained them with a scintillating 94-ball-155 (18×4, 9×6), taking the young and inexperienced Sikkim bowlers to the cleaners, while chasing down 237.

On a flat deck, Rohit set the tone with a well-timed shot over cover off seamer Kranthi Kumar — he eventually hit seven fours off the bowler — and followed it up with a trademark swivel-pull over the backward square-leg fence for a six.

While the crowd lapped it all up, Rohit capitalised on a couple of reprieves to bring up his fifty in just 28 balls and added 141 for the opening partnership with Angkrish Ranguvanshi.

The latter held fort at one end, before being trapped leg before by Ankur. By then, Mumbai was already marching towards victory and dealing in fours and sixes.

Rohit raced to his 37th List A century in just 62 balls, and added another 55 runs in 32 deliveries to guide Mumbai home in just 30.3 overs.

Musheer Khan, too, chipped in with an unbeaten 26-ball-27 to add 85 runs for the second wicket, which ensured that Mumbai did not let it slip after a solid start.

Earlier Ashish’s Thapa’s 87-ball-79 guided Sikkim to 236 for six giving its bowlers something to work with. But with Rohit leading from the front, none of their plans worked.

In what Sikkim captain Lee Yong Lepcha termed as the ‘biggest match of their careers’, the batters managed to tackle the early conditions and put up a competitive total against a formidable Mumbai bowling line-up.

But eventually, it was a Rohit show all through.