Virat Kohli hammers his 52nd ODI ton, sixth against SA
What's the story
Indian batter Virat Kohli is back to his best in international cricket. Kohli, the Run Machine, hammered an incredible century in the 1st ODI against South Africa at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi. The 37-year-old entertained the Ranchi crowd with his vintage and immaculate strokes. He added a 136-run partnership with Rohit Sharma for the second wicket. Kohli raced to his 52nd ODI century.
Knock
Kohli plays his classic knock
Kohli entered in the fourth over after India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal. The former started with a boundary at third man and never looked back. He showed his classic straight and cover drives thereafter. Kohli brought up his half-century with a maximum off Corbin Bosch in the 18th over. Although India lost successive wickets, Kohli ticked the scoreboard and reached his ton off 102 balls.
Information
Kohli hammers a 120-ball 135
Kohli broke the shackles right after completing his ton. He smacked Prenelan Subrayen for 2 sixes and as many fours in the next over. Kohli, who continued to attack, fell to Nandre Burger for 135 off 120 balls (4s-11 and 6s-7).
Century
52nd ODI ton for Kohli
According to ESPNcricinfo, Kohli raced to his 52nd century in ODI cricket. No other batter has more than 50 centuries in the format. Kohli, who also has 75 half-centuries, hammered his sixth ODI century against South Africa. Notably, Kohli now has the joint-most tons in India-SA ODIs, with Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers (6 each).
Milestone
Kohli goes past Kallis
Earlier in the match, Kohli became the second-highest run-scorer in India-SA ODIs. He attained the milestone with his 32nd run. According to ESPNcricinfo, Kohli went past Jacques Kallis in terms of runs in India-SA ODIs. The latter bowed out with 1,535 runs from 37 matches at 61.40 against India in the format. Sachin Tendulkar tops this list with 2,001 runs at 35.73 against SA.
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83rd century across formats
Overall, Kohli raced to his 83rd century in international cricket. He has the second-most tons across formats, only behind Tendulkar (100). Kohli earlier bowed out with 30 Test tons and a T20I hundred.
Feats
Kohli attains these feats
According to Cricbuzz, Kohli now has the most centuries against South Africa in ODIs, surpassing Tendulkar and David Warner (5 each). Kohli raced to his third ODI ton in five innings in Ranchi. He owns 519 runs at 173 (SR: 110.19) at this venue. Kohli slammed 7 sixes, his joint second-most in an ODI innings, with 100* against Australia in 2013.