Virat Kohli slams 39th century and gives India a win in Adelaide ODI vs Australia

Another ODI. Another run-chase. Another Virat Kohli century. When it comes to chasing in an ODI, there is none better than the Indian cricket team skipper. His brilliance and class was on display again in the Adelaide ODI as he smashed his 39^th century to keep India on course for a fantastic win and stay alive in the three-match series against Australia. Kohli’s brilliance stamped India’s chase of a tricky 299 and it enhanced his reputation as one of the greatest chasers in an ODI and also his ability to read the match situation brilliantly.  Kohli’s century broke a plethora of records, something which he seems to achieve every single time he comes out to bat.

With this century, he affirmed himself as the chase master in ODIs again. This was his 24th in a chase and India have lost just three times, once to Australia in Canberra, against New Zealand in Napier in 2014 and recently against West Indies in Pune. In fact, January 15 should be considered Virat Kohli Century Day as he has scored a century for the last three years on this day. In 2017, he smashed 122 against England in the Pune ODI while on January 15, he blasted 153 against South Africa in the Centurion Test match. 

Kohli’s century was his 39^th in ODIs and it puts him just 10 away from reaching Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49 centuries. The fact that he still has a massive gap with Tendulkar with so few gaps in number of tons underlines his class. This was his 64^th international century, helping him go past Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 63 runs. Kohli also slammed his fifth century in Australia, putting him level with Rohit Sharma and Sangakkara for most centuries by an overseas batsmen Down Under.

Read More | Shaun Marsh century propels Australia towards a massive score

His love affair with the Adelaide Oval came to the fore with this brilliant knock. In Tests, he scored his first century at this venue in 2012 and he backed it up with two centuries in 2014, 115 and 141 in a dramatic Test which Australia won by 48 runs. In ODIs, this was Kohli’s second ton at this venue, having made 107 against Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup. His highest Twenty20 International score is 90 which he achieved against Australia at this venue.

Read More | Kohli goes past 6,000 runs overseas, keeps India in the hunt

During the course of his knock, he also achieved another record. His knock in Adelaide also helped him get past 6000 runs in ODIs overseas when one takes into account matches at neutral venues as well. Kohli is the 19th player to achieve this milestone and the fifth Indian to go past 6,000 runs in ODIs.

Sachin Tendulkar leads the list with a staggering 11450 runs at an average of 43.04 while Saurav Ganguly has 8253 runs at an average of 39. Rahul Dravid has 7483 runs at 37.60 while Mohammad Azharuddin has 6215 runs at an average of 36. Kohli’s average is 58 in the current lot, which is the best among the lot.