Sri Lanka v India, 2014-15

At Kolkata, November 13, 2014 (day/night). India won by 153 runs. Toss: India. One-day international debut: K. V. Sharma.

Rohit Sharma brought a dead rubber to life with some of the cleanest hitting ever seen. This match marked the 150th anniversary of Eden Gardens, and Sharma sent a 50,000-plus crowd home in raptures, mauling 264 in 173 balls, with 33 fours and nine sixes - comfortably the highest score in one-day internationals, smashing Virender Sehwag's high-water mark by 45. It was Sharma's first match of the series (India had made five changes from Hyderabad, and Sri Lanka four) and, remarkably, just his second in two months after breaking a finger on the tour of England. He was dropped on four by Tissara Perera at third man, a straightforward opportunity off Eranga, and again on 59, when Ajantha Mendis put down a half-chance off his own bowling. Immediately after Sharma had become the first man to hit two double-hundreds in the format, Prasanna shelled a rare mishit at deep midwicket. Towards the end, his command was such that, in a 128-run stand in 58 balls for the fifth wicket, Uthappa contributed 16. India racked up their fifth total above 400 and, just as when Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag had scored their double-centuries, the winning margin was 153 runs.

The match itself was a sideshow to the Sharma act, as were well-paced half-centuries from Kohli and Mathews. Sharma's first hundred came from a relatively sedate 100 balls; the last 164 from just 73. In total, that was one shy of the 174 deliveries faced by Sunil Gavaskar in the 1975 World Cup against England at Lord's. Sharma, though, managed 228 more runs - a generational and evolutionary change indeed.
Man of the Match: R. G. Sharma.