Cricket
Take a bow, Virat Kohli!
Updated : Feb 02, 2018, 12:13 AM IST
Indian captain Virat Kohli slammed his 33rd ODI hundred in the first match against South Africa on Thursday.
In front of a near packed Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban, Kohli teamed up with Ajinkya Rahane to make light work of South Africa's total of 269.
This was the right-hander's 20th ton in a chase and reiterated his mastery in the white ball game.
The Proteas posted a competitive score batting first, largely due to their skipper Faf du Plessis' gritty 120. As it turned out, though, 269 was not enough with Kohli at his dominant best.
After losing openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply, Kohli got together with Rahane to stitch together a memorable partnership. The duo put up 189 for the third wicket and put the result of the match beyond doubt.
Rahane eventually perished for a classy 79 off 86 balls, with the skipper following him t the pavilion soon. Kohli stroked ten boundaries and not a single six in his knock of 112 off 118, a testament to his discipline and skill.
India went on to win the match by six wickets in the 46th over. As always, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit the winning runs.
Twitter was elated with Kohli's performance on Thursday. From celebrities to fans, everyone was captivated by the 29-year-old's brilliance.
33 ODI hundreds, second most ever, at the age of 29. 17 more to pass the Tendulkar record. Question isn’t if Kohli breaks that record, it is a matter of when
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) February 1, 2018
What a chaser, what an incredible player- Virat Kohli. A hundred in every country he has played. This one has made what looked a tricky chase look like a cakewalk.#INDvSA pic.twitter.com/E9GuAVFq1Y
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 1, 2018
Was a matter of time before Kohli got that century in South Africa. This has been an innings of total command. Absolute one-day perfection
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 1, 2018
Number 33. Ridiculous. The inevitability of this the moment he went past 20 is the scariest bit about Kohli the ODI batsman.
— Unsung Selfless Hero (@TenniceFan) February 1, 2018
ODI centuries in most countries (first 10 full-members):
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) February 1, 2018
9 Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, KOHLI
- Tendukar missed in West Indies
- Jayasuriya missed in Zimbabwe
- Kohli misses in Pakistan and he hasn't played there. #SAvInd
Virat Kohli's ability to score centuries is mind boggling, taking into account that batting has been easier in this era. it's still ridiculous. He scores a century every 5.9 innings, the average top 7 batsman since Kohli made his debut has scored a century ever 23.5 innings.
— Clive (@vanillawallah) February 1, 2018
Virat Kohli now become only second Indian Captain after Ganguly to score a century against South Africa in South Africa...
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) February 1, 2018
Gavaskar: Convert 1s into 2s.. and 2s into 3s..
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) February 1, 2018
Virat Kohli: F*ck this shit! I am converting 1s into 100s!
I don't want to congratulate Virat Kohli for one more century, cuz everyone will say 'YE HO CHUKA HAI'
— PhD in Bakchodi (@Atheist_Krishna) February 1, 2018
The Chase Master is at it...again #SAvIND #Kohli
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 1, 2018
When I grow up I want to be Virat Kohli batting in an ODI run chase.
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) February 1, 2018
Virat Kohli ODI schedule ..
— VIRENDER SEHWAG (@virendr_sehwag) February 1, 2018
Wake up
Eat
Hit Century
Sleep
Repeat#IndvsSA #Kohli #Viratkohli #indvsa #savsind #savind
Number 33 and first in South africe. What a knock @imVkohli . The run machine. #SAvIND #TeamIndia #runmachine #vk #Kohli pic.twitter.com/3uiltxV2hB
— Anudeep Ega (@anudeep2012) February 1, 2018
If kohli's performance continuous like this, a day wont be far when people will switch off their TV sets after kohli gets out. #INDvSA #kohli
— prayag sonar (@prayag_sonar) February 1, 2018
What a knock. Chase master for a reason. King kohli! What did that celebration mean? Any guesses? #INDvSA #India #Kohli #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/YdbRRtLwxD
— Dank boy (@Dank_bouy) February 1, 2018
That Agression in his eyes #Kohli pic.twitter.com/YHgJDmW7j8
— Mahak Mohan (@MahakMohan) February 1, 2018
Earlier, South Africa won the toss and opted to bat. As expected, Aiden Markram came in for injured AB de Villiers and the hosts went in with only one spinner. India's playing eleven was along anticipated lines, with Rahane slated to bat at No. 4 for the first time since January 2016.
A sell-out crowd was expected for this first match of the six-ODI series but the fans -- mostly Indian supporters -- only arrived in spurts on account of a working Thursday, building up gradually over the afternoon. This is the only game of the Indian tour in Durban.
Du Plessis' century mirrored his grinding method from Test cricket and single-handedly anchored the South Africa innings, before he was out caught in the deep off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/70) in the last over.
(Inputs from PTI)