Continuing his magical show with the bat, Virat Kohli, with his 27th stroke-filled hundred, led India from the front to a remarkable victory in the first game of the three-ODI series against visitors England.
Chasing a mammoth target of 351 runs, Kohli slammed his 15th hundred to break Sachin’s record for most hundreds in successful run chases.
Furthermore, the newly-appointed skipper also equalled Tendulkar’s record of scoring most hundreds in run chases. Tendulkar scored his 17 tons in 232 innings whereas Kohli achieved the feat in only his 96th inning.
Also, Sachin scored his 27 hundreds in 254 innings while Kohli took just 169 innings to reach the coveted landmark.
Chasing England’s 350/7, Kohli came to the crease after India were reduced to 63/4. With Dhawan, KL Rahul, Yuvraj and MS Dhoni back in the pavilion, Kohli (122) found a solid support from Kedar Jadhav (120) as India kept hopes alive of taking a lead in the series.
Kohli amassed 2,595 runs in international cricket last year that included three double hundreds in Tests. In ODIs, Kohli smashed 739 runs in 10 innings at an average of 92.37, including three centuries.
Kohli’s highest score in ODIs has come while chasing. His 183 came in the Asia Cup clash against Pakistan in Mirpur when India successfully chased down 329.
So far, he has scored 7,692 runs in 177 ODIs at an average of 53.41 that included 27 hundreds and 38 half-centuries.
