Virat Kohli was in the middle for 276 balls out of 300 legal deliveries, soaked the sweltering afternoon heat, sprinted 65 times for singles and four times for twos on a slow pitch only to make 200th one-day international match more memorable
Virat Kohli was in the middle for 276 balls out of 300 legal deliveries, soaked the sweltering afternoon heat, sprinted 65 times for singles and four times for twos on a slow pitch only to make 200th one-day international match more memorable. He faced 125 balls for his 121 as the skipper rescued India from a difficult 29 for 2 position to post 280 for eight in the first ODI against NZ at Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Kohli's 31st ODI ton had a lot of context to Sachin Tendulkar. He surpassed Ricky Ponting (30 tons) to be the only batsman in the current league to break Tendulkar's 49 ODI tons record.
India captain Virat Kohli hooks one en route his 121 against NZ yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
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An India ton after 1996
He also became the only Indian to score an ODI century at the Wankhede after Tendulkar's 114 against South Africa in 1996. The Wankhede crowd too derived the same kind of pleasure from Kohli's knock like they did while watching Tendulkar. Yesterday, Kohli delivered another memorable knock in his second consecutive international match at Wankhede after his 235 in the Test against England last December.
Man for a crisis
With the Indian openers Rohit Sharma (20) and Shikhar Dhawan (9) back in the pavilion inside the first six overs, thanks to some reckless hitting, Kohli led by example and exemplified a fine demonstration of putting a hefty price on his wicket. It didn't matter to Kohli if his start was unusual — he took 18 balls for his first boundary. Losing the openers early had an immediate impact as India managed to score just eight runs from overs five to 10. Kohli made the most of the reprieve he got when Mitchell Santner dropped him on 29 in the covers off Colin de Grandhomme in the 19th over. He managed to put on 42 runs for the third wicket with Kedar Jadhav (12) before a 73-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (37) for the fourth wicket and a 57-run fifth wicket partnership with MS Dhoni (25). Kohli took a chance when he raced to his half-century with a risky pull shot that sailed over the fielder for a six off Adam Milne.
A ball later, he smacked a straight drive that got the crowd back on its feet. He freed his arms only in the final overs. The shot of his innings came in the first ball off the final over bowled by Tim Southee when he managed to make room to hit one which landed on the press box glass. However, Kohli departed in the next ball, holing out at long-on and the crowd gave him a standing ovation just like they did after every Tendulkar classic.
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