The great Virat Kohli has added another string to his bow, notching up his 49th ODI century on his 35th birthday to go level with Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar. With India gunning for their eighth-straight win in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Kohli took control and achieved the feat in just his 277th innings, an incredible 174 fewer than Tendulkar, who took 451 innings to reach the mark.
A capacity crowd at Eden Gardens, and hundreds of millions watching online and on television celebrated yet another Kohli hundred. After a superb early onslught by Rohit Sharma against the South Africa fast bowlers, Virat settled in and held the Indian innings together on a challenging Kolkata pitch. On a surface that offered turn and inconsistent pace, Kohli rotated strike magnificently, partnering with Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to help take India to a formidable 326/5.
The knock was also testament to Kohli’s supreme fitness. Conditions have been sapping and unforgiving throughout this World Cup, with testing heat and humidity across the country. However, Virat never let up, finishing with just ten fours in his 101 with the rest in singles and twos.
Reactions to Virat Kohli’s 49th ODI century: Star number 3 leads the way as India thump high-flying South Africa
From there, India never let up. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj kept things tight early, with the latter getting the key wicket of Quinton de Kock. Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took over, with the left-arm spinner finishing with superb figures of 5/33 as the Proteas had absolutely no respite against a relentless attack.
The defeat raises further questions around South Africa’s ability to chase totals. As they dominate teams when batting first, the Proteas have lost two matches when batting second (against Netherlands and India) and scraped home by one wicket against Pakistan.
“Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations!!” tweeted cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.
India marked another day of dominance with a superb 243-run win over South Africa. Their final group game is against the Netherlands at Bengaluru. South Africa will go up against high-flying Afghanistan at Ahmedabad before the semi-finals.
