India’s Virat Kohli equaled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 one-day international hundreds as unbeaten World Cup hosts India thrashed fellow semi-finalists South Africa by 243 runs in a pool match on Sunday.
Kohli, on his 35th birthday, got to the landmark in 119 balls, including 10 fours, at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
It had taken him 277 innings to score 49 hundreds at this level compared to the 438 required by fellow India 2011 World Cup-winner Tendulkar.
The Proteas’ batters found themselves helpless, failing to face the deadly Indian bowling attack as they lost five wickets for just 40 runs in 13.1 overs.
South Africa, who have made their recognition of playing fearless cricket, couldn’t play the way they always do and kept on losing wickets at intervals.
The Proteas were all out for 83 runs, suffering their biggest defeat of this World Cup.
Ravindra Jadeja was the undisputed pick of the bowlers as the left-arm off-spinner bagged five wickets for 33 runs.
Batting first, Rohit Sharma went berserk and took the Proteas bowlers to the cleaners, and scored 40 off just 24 balls, including eight boundaries as the Blues had scored more than 90 runs within the 10 overs.
However, both the openers, Sharma and Shubman Gill, walked back to the pavilion soon, leaving their side 93-2 in 10.3 overs.
That is when Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer built a crucial 134-run partnership and helped the Blues score runs on a tricky Kolkata pitch which made it difficult for batters to tackle bowlers, spinners especially, between the innings.
Despite the wicket getting difficult during the innings, Iyer and Kohli got the much-needed time to settle down without disturbing the run rate, thanks to the rapid start provided by their skipper Sharma.
Iyer scored 77 off 87 balls with nine boundaries, including seven fours and two sixes, and accelerated the innings at the right time.
However, it was Kohli who was the centre of attention for various reasons. The 35-year-old was playing on his birthday and also scored a magnificent century, scoring 101 off 121 runs.
Kohli notched up his 49th ODI ton, equaling the record of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli stayed till the last bowl but during the last overs, he was supported by quick knocks of Suryakumar Yadav (22 off 14) and Ravindra Jadeja (29 off 15), taking India’s total to 326 runs in the allocated overs.
