India's Rohit Sharma celebrates making his century during the 2019 Cricket World Cup group stage match between Bangladesh and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, central England, on July 2, 2019. AFP / Paul Ellis
BIRMINGHAM, England: India's Rohit Sharma smashed his fourth century at this year's Cricket World Cup as the top order powered them to 314 for nine against Bangladesh in their group match at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Dropped on nine by Tamim Iqbal, Rohit (104) and KL Rahul (77) forged a 180-run stand, the highest opening partnership at this year's tournament, to give India a strong foundation.
Rohit tied Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara's record of four hundreds in a single World Cup and also overtook Australian David Warner as the leading scorer at this tournament.
Rishabh Pant made 48 but the Bangladesh bowlers, led by Mustafizur Rahman (5-59), stemmed the boundary flow at the end as India fell short of the 350-mark which had looked within their reach at one stage.
India will qualify for the semi-finals with a victory over Bangladesh who must win to stay alive in the race.
