Indian Captain Virat Kohli achieved his 31st hundred in ODI at Wankhede on Sunday
Mumbai, 23rd Oct: Indian Captain Virat Kohli made it a memorable 200th ODI with a record breaking century in demanding conditions to guide India to respectable 280 for 8 against New Zealand in the opening encounter of the three match series at the Wankhede on Sunday. Kohli mixed caution with aggression hitting 121 off 125 balls – his 31st hundred in the 50-over format, that took him past former Australian captain Ricky Ponting as the second highest ton-getter in this format. Ponting has 30 ODI hundreds to his name. Kohli is now second in the list of most hundreds scored in the 50-over format, just behind Sachin Tendulkar, who leads the pack with 49 tons.
Kohli also the leading run-getter after 200 ODIs ahead of AB De Villiers (8,621) and Sourav Ganguly (7,747). AB de Villiers was the first to score a hundred on his 200th ODI. This is Kohli’s 31st ODI hundred.
Kohli walked in to the stadium after India lost Shikhar Dhawan early in the innings for 9 with the score at 16/1 from 3.2 overs. He settled in with Rohit Sharma but soon the latter fell and so did Kedar Jadhav, who walked in after the fall of Rohit’s wicket. With India in a spot of bother at 71/3 from 15.2 overs, it was up to the captain to carry the innings forward. The 28-year-old Kohli took charge with the incoming Dinesh Karthik and steadied the ship before slowly upping the tempo and that was when he was given a lease of life as Mitchell Santner dropped him on 29 off the bowling of Colin de Grandhomme in the 19th over. He took full advantage of that and chipped away with the runs here and there before completing his fifty off 62 balls with a fine on-drive off Colin Munro in the 24th over. However, he was dealt with another blow as a set Karthik fell for 37 in the 29th over while trying to pull a Tim Southee delivery ending their 73-run stand for the fourth wicket. Then Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kohli played the game more freely and finally Kohli completed his ton in the 45th over with single off the bowling of Tim Southee.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR READERS