India posts record at Cricket World Cup, sets Pakistan 337 to win game
By JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Rohit Sharma scored his second century of the World Cup and Virat Kohli surpassed 11,000 runs in one-day international cricket as India posted a record 336-5 at Old Trafford in a rain-interrupted group game against archrival Pakistan.
Sharma stroked 140 from 113 balls and shared partnerships of 136 with KL Rahul (57) and 98 with Kohli on Sunday before he needlessly paddled a ball from Hasan Ali to Wahab Riaz at short fine leg in the 38th over, making India 234-2.
Kohli continued, becoming the third Indian batsman to pass 11,000 ODI runs. In doing so in his 222nd innings, he became the fastest to reach the milestone.
He was on 71 and India was 305-4 when rain stopped play in the 47th over. After a 55-minute break, Kohli returned and was caught behind off Mohammad Amir for 77 in the only wicket to fall in the last 3.2 overs.
India's total passed Sri Lanka's 318-7 against England in 2006 as the highest ODI total in Manchester. No team has scored more than 329 batting second to win a World Cup game.
After a batting onslaught at the top, Pakistan pegged back the run-rate as Amir had Hardik Pandya (26) caught on the long-on boundary by Babar Azam and MS Dhoni (1) caught behind and walking after an extravagant swipe. With Kohli's wicket, he finished with 3-47.
India entered the encounter with a 6-0 record in World Cup games against Pakistan, and started the innings with the very clear intent of extending the perfect sequence.
After playing the anchor role in the opening stand, Rahul had just hit a six to reach his 50 and then cleared the boundary again before he miscued a ball from Wahab to Babar at cover in the 24th over. The dismissal came immediately after Wahab had been warned twice by umpire Marais Erasmus for running on the protected area of the pitch.
Rahul's wicket brought Kohli to the crease, an arrival greeted with a roar from the predominantly pro-India crowd. His single past point to get off the mark was met by football-style "Kohli-Kohli-Kohli" chants from the temporary Stand D full of India supporters waving the tri-color.
Old Trafford was at a full capacity of 23,500, and could have been sold out at least 20-times over — the BBC reported there were more than 700,000 ticket applications.
There's always extra significance in games when the nuclear-armed neighboring countries meet at ICC tournaments because India and Pakistan play cricket so infrequently in bilateral series.
Things started going haywire for Pakistan after skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and sent India in to bat, going against the advice sent by Prime Minister and 1992 World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan.
The PM posted his messages on Twitter, encouraging the Pakistan team to "banish all fear of losing."
Overcast and cool overhead conditions that usually would favor swing and seam bowling didn't greatly assist the Pakistan attack, with India racing to 52-0 in 10 overs — its most productive opening power play of the tournament.
The Pakistan pacemen had trouble with the umpires, with Amir and Wahab each cautioned twice for running in the middle of the pitch. One further warning for either would have resulted in a suspension of bowling for the remainder of the game.