‘Hitman is back’ – Fans elated as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill add 200 runs for the first wicket against NZ

India and New Zealand are locking horns in the third and final ODI of the three-match series at Holkar Stadium, Indore. New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bowl first. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill walked out to the middle determined to give a blazing start to the innings.

Gill made his intentions clear as he got off the mark with a boundary on the third ball of the second over. Rohit also got into the groove and smacked a couple of boundaries in the third over. Gill further smashed 22 runs in the eighth over by Lockie Ferguson and brought up the fifty-run stand between the duo.

Rohit also smacked 17 in the tenth over as India finished the powerplay on the score of 82/0 in the powerplay. The duo continued to bat in attacking mode and brought up their 100-run stand in just 76 balls. Gill brought up his hundred in 33 balls while Rohit brought up his fifty in 41 balls.

There was no stopping Gill and Rohit as they unleashed their beast mode after completing their 100-run stand. After taking his time early on, Rohit began scoring at a brisk rate as the run rate soared over 8 runs per over. It seemed as if both of them were in a race to complete their hundred before their partner.

The duo were relentless as they brought up 200-run opening stand in just 145 balls and also broke the record for the highest opening stand against New Zealand in ODIs. With Rohit and Gill batting on 99 and 98 respectively in the 26^th over, it was Rohit who reached the three-figure mark first.

Rohit and Gill reached hundred in the same over

He achieved the landmark in 83 balls and brought up his first ODI hundred since 19^th January 2020. It was also his second fastest ODI hundred and with this, he got level with Ricky Ponting in terms of ODI hundreds with both players having 30 centuries to their name.

Shubman Gill also reached his century on the last ball of the same over in just 72 balls. The opening stand was finally broken on 212 off 157 balls as Rohit got out on 101 off 85 balls. Gill was also dismissed in the very next over for 112 off 78 balls.

Meanwhile, Twitter was abuzz with reactions on the explosive opening stand between Rohit and Gill. Here are some of the Tweets: