Virat Kohli continued his purple patch in the final of the World Cup 2023 as he scored a much-needed half-century for the Men in Blue to take them out of a precarious situation and joined a list of esteemed individuals in the process. Virat scored 54 off 63 balls with the help of four boundaries before he chopped a short delivery from Australia's captain Pat Cummins onto his stumps on the third delivery of the 29th over.
However, his fifty helped him become the first Indian to score consecutive half-centuries in the semifinal and final of a single World Cup edition. The 35-year-old joined former England captain Mike Brearley (1979 World Cup), David Boon (1987 World Cup), Javed Miandad (1992 World Cup), Aravinda de Silva (1996 World Cup), and Grant Elliot (2015 World Cup) on the list of players who have scored consecutive half-centuries in the semis and finals of a single World Cup edition.
Virat also notched up yet another record the moment he placed a delivery from Adam Zampa to the right of long-on in the 26th over. The Delhi-born not only reached his fifty but also equalled his record of scoring five consecutive fifties in a single edition of a 50-over World Cup.
The right-handed batter had also scored five fifties in a row in the 2019 edition of the World Cup. Notably, Steve Smith of Australia is the only other player apart from Virat who holds the same record. Smith achieved the feat in the 2015 edition and helped Australia lift their fifth ODI world title.
India's playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Australia's playing XI:
Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
