Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that he was pleased to bat throughout the innings to take past the team’s total above 300 in a slow track during the third One Day International (ODI) match against South Africa in Cape Town on February 7.
Rode on Kohli’s unbeaten 160-run knock off 159 balls, Team India thrashed hosts South Africa by a 124-run margin.
With his 34th ODI ton, Kohli now has most hundreds as the Indian ODI captain to his name. He broke Sourav Ganguly’s record, who has 11 centuries in 142 innings. Kohli now has 12 centuries as skipper but in only 43 innings.
During the press conference, when Kohli was asked to rate this match-winning century, he said every century was special to him.
“Every century is special. The wicket got considerably slower after the 30th over, so you had to again adjust your game, and make sure, with wickets falling also, that you continued adjusting through the innings.”
Pleased about the fact that I could bat till the end – @imVkohli after his match-winning knock of 160* #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/PVprbR8r8e
— BCCI (@BCCI) 8 February 2018
Kohli added,
“I was pleased from that point of view that I was able to bat through because I was struggling with a bit of cramp around the 90s. Then wickets kept falling, I decided to hit out, because I thought I might not have enough energy left.”
Kohli scored 100 of his 160 runs by running. He ran 75 singles (75 runs), 11 doubles (22 runs) and one three (3 runs).
#TeamIndia win the 3rd ODI by 124 runs. Lead the six-match ODI series
3-0 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/AVqQopWgHv— BCCI (@BCCI) 7 February 2018
Only four other batsmen have 100 runs or more in an ODI inning and he is also the first Indian to do so. The previous highest for India is 98 in Sourav Ganguly’s 130-run innings against Sri Lanka in 1999.
His 160 not out is the second-highest score by an Indian in an ODI against South Africa. The highest is Sachin Tendulkar’s iconic 200 in 2010.
With the victory in 3rd ODI over the South Africans, Team India is now leading the six-match series by 3-0. Team India are now on the verge of creating history as they have never won an ODI series on the South African soil.
