Virat Kohli celebrated his 35th birthday by taking India to 326/5 against South Africa in Kolkata on Sunday. The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 tie between the two best performers of the tournament so far also witnessed Virat Kohli finding the 49th hundred of his ODI career. The former Indian captain needs just one more ton to become the player to have scored the most centuries in the 50-over format.
Earlier in the match, Kohli had surpassed Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara to become the third-highest run-getter in ICC World Cups.
After openers Shubman Gill (23 off 24) and Rohit Sharma (40 off 24) fell, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer (77 off 87) stitched an important partnership to rebuild the Indian innings.
India vs South Africa: As it happened
Virat Kohli celebrates scoring his 49th ODI hundred | Salil Bera
Kohli's unbeaten 101 contained 10 fours and left him level with Indian great Sachin Tendulkar on 49 hundreds. The right-hander continued his superb form by taking his tally past 500 runs in the tournament. He dropped anchor in a third-wicket with Iyer, who made 77 with seven fours and two sixes, before getting to his ton in the 49th over after India went past 300 runs on a slow Kolkata wicket.
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India elected to bat first after winning the toss and took advantage of some wayward pace bowling by Marco Jansen to make a blazing start but skipper Rohit Sharma fell for a 24-ball 40 as he looked to launch first-change Kagiso Rabada over mid-off.
After reaching 91-1 in the powerplay, the hosts lost opener Shubman Gill (23) to an unplayable delivery from Keshav Maharaj in the 11th over as South Africa brought the run-rate under control with spin.
- With Reuters inputs
