Kohli hits 31st ton, surpasses Ponting in centurions’ list
AHEAD OF KOHLI NOW IS JUST SACHIN TENDULKAR WHO HAS 49 CENTURIES FROM 463 ODIS. TENDULKAR TOOK TO TWITTER TO CONGRATULATE KOHLI ON HIS FEAT
Virat Kohli struck is 31st ODI century on unday to move past icky Ponting (30) into ear second in the list of tsmen with most centues, in the first match of the ries against New Zealand e Wankhede Stadium. Ahead of Kohli now is just chin Tendulkar who has 49 nturies from 463 ODIs. Tenlkar took to Twitter to conatulate Kohli on his Sunday t.
“Superb effort to get to a ton your 200th match, imVkohli. A rather special nings,” tweeted Tendulkar oments after Kohli reached his ndred.
Kohli celebrated his 200th DI appearance with a special knock, studded with only seven boundaries and a six (111 balls) on a tricky wicket and against a disciplined bowling line-up that made the Indian run machine work hard for his runs.
The innings on Sunday against New Zealand was Kohli’s fifth century in 2017 – a year he began with a sparkling 122 against England at Pune in a tough win.
Coming off a short break, Kohli was happy returning to do what he knows best by grinding the Kiwi bowling and working his way through to a memorable century.
The Indian cricket team capwas tain forced to drop anchor and look to rotate strike rather than go for strokes as his other teammates paid the price for being a tad too aggressive. Kohli added 42 runs for the third wicket with Kedar Jadhav in the earlier stages when he found the team under pressure after the hosts had elected to bat on winning the toss.
But the arrival of Dinesh Karthik helped India shift gear with the senior batsman taking the pressure off his captain to a great extent. Kohli and Karthik added 73 off 84 balls for the fourth wicket.
Kohli went on to add another 57 runs with MS Dhoni for the sixth wicket, with the latter scoring 25 off 42 balls with only two fours.
MCA TO FELICITATE
Kohli will be felicitated by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) after the first ODI at the Wankhede Stadium. The announcement was made by the president of the MCA, Ashish Shelar, during the second innings of the series opener.
Kohli has had several memories of playing crucial knocks at the Wankhede Stadium starting with his 35 in the World Cup final.
Late in 2016, Kohli notched up a double century --- a fluent 235 against England here, in the fourth of the five-Test series. That remains his highest Test score. India had gone on to win the Test by an innings and 36 runs.