SACHH MUCH VIRAT
254*-run knock by the captain sees India post 601/5d before reducing South Africa to 36/3 at stumps on Day two
On a day when records tumbled and shattered across the MCA Stadium, Virat Kohli showed his true class and produced one of the best knocks he has played for India.
Virat, true to his name, scored mammoth 254* to tighten the screws on a miserable South Africa side on Friday.
The Indian skipper was ably supported by Ravindra Jadeja and saw India post 601/5 declared.
It was another bad day in the office for the visitors, as they lost three of the top batsmen for just 36 runs on board at the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s (MCA) ground here in Gahunje on Friday.
After the onslaught by Indians with the willow, which saw two centuries and three fifties, Indian seamers left the visitors staring at yet another defeat as Faf du Plessis and his men were reeling at 36 for three in the 15 overs they faced.
Blame it on the wicket or the toothless attack by the Proteas, Kohli spared no one.
His 254 runs came from 336 deliveries with 33 fours and 2 sixes with a strike rate of 75.59.
The fifth-wicket pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Kohli put on 225 runs.
The assault started soon after the tea break; in the 15.3 overs they together put on 128 runs.
Jadeja, who was going very strong, was unlucky to lose out of a deserving hundred by nine runs.
Spinner Keshav Maharaj took most of the beating as he conceded 21 in his 16th over with Kohli and Jadeja breaking South Africa’s spirit.
After Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara put on 138 runs for the second wicket on the opening day, it was the Kohli and Rahane’s turn to pile on the misery over South Africa with another massive 178-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
It looked that Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander could keep the Indian batsmen in check but that was not to be, as Kohli and Jadeja went about clinically in their aggressive approach.
Philander was unlucky early in the innings, both Rahane and Kohli nicks went past the slip fielders and later the ball fell short of Faf du Plessis on the bowling of debutant Anrich Nortje.
Rahane survived review for leg before the wicket off Keshav Maharaj. Kohli’s straight drives were a treat to watch, and it was this same short which saw him get his first hundred of the year when did it against the fast bowler Vernon Philander.
MILESTONES GALORE
Virat Kohli became the first Indian cricketer to score 40 tons in all formats of the game.
This century for Indian skipper Kohli is first on many counts. Incidentally, this is the first in 11 innings, first at home against SA and the first for the year 2019.
With this, he surpassed Australian legend Don Bradman as the captain with most scores of 150+. Kohli now has nine scores of 150+ while captaining India, which is one more than Bradman's tally. Michael Clarke, Mahela Jayawardene, Brian Lara and Graeme Smith are next on the list with 7 scores of 150+ each as captain.
He also celebrated his ton on his 50th Test match as captain of the side with a straight drive off seamer Philander to the fence, in the 109th over of the Indian innings.
Kohli took 173 balls to reach the landmark which included 16 hits to the fence, his partnership with Ajinkya Rahane for the fourth wicket was their 10th century stand in Tests.
In the process, they also went past 3000 partnership runs. It was also the highest fourth-wicket partnership for India against South Africa. The previous highest was 145 by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly at Johannesburg in the 1996-97 series.
Kohli took 138 innings to hit 26 Test tons, which is fourth quickest, after Don Bradman (69), Steve Smith (121) and Sachin Tendulkar (136).
Kohli also goes past the Aussie trio of Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Smith to become the captain with second-most hundreds in Test cricket. He and another Aussie captain Ricky Ponting have 19 hundred each as captains. However, former South African captain Graeme Smith leads the tally with 25 hundreds as captain.