Chaser Virat Kohli on the prowl
CENTURION: India skipper Virat Kohli smashed his 33rd ODI century, and a record 18th while chasing a target successfully, to power his team to a six-wicket victory over South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban. Kohli’s 112 off 119 deliveries, which came in India’s successful chase of 270 in the first of the six ODIS, helped him equal former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s record of scoring most ODI tons (11) as India captain.
Kohli has caught up with Ganguly in a mere 44 matches. The latter had set the mark in 146 ODIS. As captain, Ganguly scored 5,082 runs at 38.79 with the help of 11 centuries and 30 half-centuries. Former skippers MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar are tied with six centuries each as India captain in ODIS.
Kohli also brought up the unique achievement of scoring an ODI hundred in each of the nine countries he has played in, as the century at Durban on Thursday night was his first in South Africa in ODIS.
He is only the third player, after Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, to achieve this feat, although Tendulkar did not score a ton in the West Indies. The Indian skipper’s century gave his team not just their fifth win in South Africa, but India secured their first win in Kingsmead against South Africa. Overall, Kohli has scored 20 centuries while chasing with only two not leading to an Indian victory.
In July 2017, Kohli went past Tendulkar’s record of scoring most centuries in successful ODI chases, when he scored his 18th ton. He is also in pursuit of Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries — most by any batsman.
Ajinkya Rahane too displayed his class in Durban as he became the third Indian to score five consecutive ODI fifties. In the series against Australia in October 2017, Rahane had scored four consecutive fifties while opening the innings. He joins Kohli, who did it twice in 2012 and 2013, and Sachin Tendulkar in 1994.
The 189-run Kohli-rahane stand helped India to a big win. This stand is a record for the third wicket in ODIS against South Africa, eclipsing the previous record of 180 between New Zealand’s Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor in Hamilton in 2017.