World Cup 2019: The best batting performances of the tournament

#4 Rohit Sharma - 122* vs South Africa

South Africa v India - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

India locked horns with South Africa at Southampton in their inaugural encounter of World Cup 2019. Losing the toss, India were asked to field first. The Indian bowlers did a good job, restricting the Proteas to 227/9 in their 50 overs.

India did not get the best of starts, as they lost opener Shikhar Dhawan and talisman Virat Kohli inside the first 16 overs, with still more than 150 runs needed. The middle order stood exposed, which had been the Achilles' Heel for India since the past 2 years. India banked upon Rohit Sharma to deliver the goods.

Rohit personally, too, did not have the best of starts, facing some serious challenges from the Protea bowlers. He even edged one of the balls, but was fortunate to be dropped by Faf du Plessis.

However, Rohit gathered all his strength and took the responsibility on his shoulders post the dismissals of the fellow top order batsmen. He adopted an approach contrary to his natural one, playing a good number of dot balls to settle in. He kept rotating the strike and hit occasional boundaries to keep the score board ticking.

The Indian vice captain stitched an 85-run partnership with KL Rahul and another 74-run partnership with MS Dhoni. In the process, he brought his century, and stayed unbeaten at 122 from 144 balls.