LEEDS: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma became the first player to hit five centuries in a single World Cup as he put India on course for a comfortable win against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Saturday.

Sharma reached the milestone with a boundary off Kasun Rajitha to pass the mark set by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who scored four hundreds at the 2015 tournament.

He reached his century off 92 balls with 14 fours and two sixes but was dismissed shortly afterwards, caught by Angelo Mathews off the bowling of Rajitha for 103.

Sharma, known as the "hitman", now leads the tournament's run-scoring charts with 647 runs in eight matches after hitting his third successive century.

He is only the fourth batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and Shakib Al Hasan to score more than 600 runs at a single World Cup.

The attacking batsman put on 189 runs for the opening wicket with KL Rahul to put India well on course to reach their target of 265.