Vadodara: Another vintage knock, another Man-of-the-Match award. Virat Kohli can do no wrong in ODIs, the only international format he plays in.
The 37-year-old ‘chasemaster’ missed out on a possible 85th international hundred, but his sparkling 93 off 91 balls (8×4, 1×6) helped Team India overhaul New Zealand’s total of 300/8 with 4 wickets and one over to spare in the first of three ODIs here on Sunday night.
Kohli walked in at No. 3 after another golden oldie Rohit Sharma fell for a brief but strokeful knock of 26, which included 3 fours and 2 sixes. In association with skipper Shubman Gill, Kohli added 118 runs for the second wicket.
Gill, in his first outing since the T20 World Cup snub, let his batting do the talking. Playing second fiddle to the in-form Kohli, Gill made 56 before falling to India-born leggie Adhitya Ashok.
When Kohli reached 41, he crossed a major milestone in his storied career. The former India captain became the fastest batter in the game’s history to aggregate 28,000 runs in international cricket.
With 28,052 runs, surpassed Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara’s tally (28,016).
Only the peerless Sachin Tendulkar (34,357) stands ahead of Kohli.
BRIEF SCORES
New Zealand 300/8 in 50 overs (Daryl Mitchell 84, Henry Nicholls 62, Devon Conway 56; Mohammed Siraj 2/40, Prasidh Krishna 2/60, Harshit Rana 2/65).
India 306/6 in 49 overs (Virat Kohli 93, Shubman Gill 56, Shreyas Iyer 49; Kyle Jamieson 4/41).
Result: India won by 4 wickets.
Player of the Match: Virat Kohli.
TOP INTERNATIONAL RUN-GETTERS
Sachin Tendulkar – 34,357 runs in 644 innings
Virat Kohli – 28,052 runs in 624 innings
Kumar Sangakkara – 28,016 runs in 666 innings
Ricky Ponting – 27,483 runs
Mahela Jayawardene – 25,957 runs.
