It was a milestone madness from Virat Kohli on Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram as the former India captain carved out a sensational 139 not out against the West Indies in the first ODI match of the three-game home series.
The star batter, who only plays this format of cricket on the international stage, notched up his 55th career ODI century, en route to his seventh-best knock in the format, which came in 88 balls, including 10 fours and nine sixes. This was also his second century at the venue in three ODI innings.
Earlier, the West Indies had scored 295-7 in 50 overs after being put into bat. In reply, openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma added 74 off 72 balls, before the India captain combined with Kohli to forge a 151-run stand off 132 balls for the second wicket and the visitors never got a chance to mount a comeback.
Kohli eventually closed out the game with his 139 not out as India took an early 1-0 lead in the series with a resounding eight-wicket win inside 42 overs.
Here is a look at all the records Virat Kohli broke during the first ODI match against the West Indies:
1.Kohli became the second batter in history to reach the milestone of 15,000 runs in ODI cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar (18426), and outlasted the legend in becoming the faster cricketer to the feat. He reached the mark in his 303rd innings, 74 more than Sachin. He also was quicker in terns of balls faced — 15,950 balls compared to Tendulkar’s 17,528.
2. It wasn’t the only Tendulkar record he broke. The 139 not out took his tally to 7006 runs in ODI cricket in India, making him the only-ever batter to score 7000 ODI runs in a country, surpassing Tendulkar, who had scored 6976 runs in India.
3. The 55th career ODI ton was India’s 10th against the West Indies, and here he matched his own record for the most hundreds in the format against a single opponent. He also has 10 centuries against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar stands next on the list with nine such knocks against Australia, same as Rohit Sharma.
4. Overall, he has 13 international centuries against the West Indies, equaling Sunil Gavaskar, who although faced the opposition in 38 matches, more than double of Kohli’s tally (74).
5. The knock on Sunday took Kohli’s tally to 338 runs in Thiruvananthapuram across three innings — and that is the highest tally for a batter at a single venue in ODI cricket without being dismissed.
7. This was also his 60th List A century, and this time he equalled Tendulkar for the most in the format.
8. Kohli now also has 30 centuries in a chasing cause, 12 more than the next-best batter, Rohit, and of them, 25 have come in a winning cause.
