Rohit Sharma surpasses AB de Villiers, rises to no 2 in list of six-hitters in IPL history
Rohit's six tally in IPL went to 252, surpassing de Villiers' tally of 251 sixes
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma surpassed AB de Villiers on Friday, becoming the batter with the second-highest number of sixes in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He accomplished this feat during his side's IPL 2023 against Gujarat Titans at Wankhede Stadium.
Under fire due to lack of form in recent matches, shades of 'Vintage Hitman' were visible in Rohit's batting. In 18 balls, Rohit scored 29 runs at a strike rate of 161.11. His knock consisted of three fours and two sixes.
With this, Rohit's six tally in IPL went to 252, surpassing de Villiers' tally of 251 sixes. The most sixes in the history of IPL are hit by West Indies legend Chris Gayle, who has smashed 357 sixes in his career.
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This season, Rohit has scored 220 runs at an average of 18.33 in 12 matches. His runs have come at a strike rate of 128.65, with a half-century. His best score this season is 65.
Being put to bat first by GT, MI put up 218/5 on the board in their 20 overs. Openers Ishan Kishan (31 off 20 balls) and skipper Rohit Sharma (29 off 18 balls) provided a quick start with a quick 61-run opening stand.
However, Rashid Khan removed the openers and Nehal Wadhera (15) to reduce MI to 88/3. From there, it was a 'Suryakukar Yadav show'. He put on a 65-run stand for the fourth wicket with Vishnu Vinod (30 off 20 balls). Suryakumar ended up scoring his maiden IPL century, a knock of 103* in 49 balls with 11 fours and six sixes.
Rashid Khan (4/30) was the pick of the bowlers for GT. Mohit Sharma got a wicket as well.
Chasing 219, GT lost wickets right from the start. They were reduced to 55/5, despite a knock of 29 runs from Vijay Shankar. But a partnership of 45 runs between David Miller (41 in 26 balls) and Rahul Tewatia (14 in 13 balls) helped GT reach three figures.
Following their dismissal, it was Rashid Khan who kept the fight going. Even if the side looked out of the contest, his sixes helped in lowering the margin and did not let his side's net run rate take a hit.
The Afghan all-rounder slammed 79* in just 32 balls, consisting of three fours and 10 sixes. He put on an 88-run stand for the ninth wicket with Alzarri Joseph (7*) to take GT to 191/8 in their 20 overs. MI won the match by 27 runs.
Akash Madhwal (3/31) was the pick of the bowlers for MI. Piyush Chawla (2/36) also continued his impressive run in IPL 2023. Jason Behrendorff got a wicket as well.
Suryakumar won the 'Man of the Match' award for his match-winning century.
With this win, MI is in the third position in the points table with seven wins and five losses. They have a total of 12 points. GT is still at the top with eight wins and four losses. They have a total of 16 points.