Kohli leaves SL gasping for breath
SUBLIME KNOCK Virat hits career best 243, his sixth double century to surpass Brian Lara’s feat of scoring five as skipper
NEWDELHI: Virat Kohli has been in unstoppable form over the last three years and captaincy seems to have added to his steely determination to succeed. Hapless Sri Lanka were flattened on Sunday as the India skipper hit a majestic 243 in the final Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Sunday.
Kohli’s career-best knock was his sixth double century, surpassing Brian Lara’s five as captain. The India No 4 drew level with Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar for most 200 or more scores. Sehwag’s knocks include two triple centuries.
With a home crowd egging him on, Kohli dominated the hapless Sri Lanka bowling for the second day, with only the brief stoppage caused by pollution after the lunch interval affecting concentration and leading to dismissal when a first Test triple century looked imminent.
India declared at 536 for seven in the afternoon, and Sri Lanka, after an early wobble, were 131/3 at stumps. Angelo Mathews was on 57 and skipper Dinesh Chandimal was 25 not out.
The beauty of Kohli’s knocks has been that they have been rapid affairs and come as great advertisement for entertaining Test cricket. He faced just 287 balls, and scored at a strike rate of 84.66. He got 100 of them in fours, batting for over seven hours to underline his supreme fitness.
His 135-run fifth-wicket partnership with Rohit Sharma (65) had taken India to 500 when the latter was caught behind at the stroke of lunch. As play was disrupted after lunch with Sri Lanka players needing attention due to the air pollution, Kohli stretched and lay on the field impatient.
Resumption saw R Ashwin fall straightaway, and the loss of concentration led to Kohli misreading one from Chinaman bowler
(Aus) (Ind) (SL) (Aus) (Ind) (Eng) 251 200
(Eng) 227 336*
304 244
224 227
200* 222*
259* 230
213 243 Australia, Sydney Australia, Melbourne New Zealand, Christchurch 1932-33 New Zealand, Auckland England, Leeds England, The Oval England, Mumbai Zimbabwe, Delhi Bangladesh, Colombo Bangladesh, Kandy South Africa, Brisbane South Africa, Adelaide Sri Lanka, Nagpur Sri Lanka, Delhi FACT 1928-29 1928-29 1932-33 1934 1934 1992-93 1992-93 2007 2007 2012-13 2012-13 2017-18 2017-18
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