Virat Kohli was in excellent form in 2016. His bat spoke loudly, and he was piling up runs. A similar trend is being seen now. Kohli is scoring runs and centuries in one match after another. He also scored a century against New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. This was Virat Kohli’s 85th century in international cricket. This is his 54th century in ODIs. Virat Kohli completed his century on the 91st ball. Virat Kohli was out after scoring 124 runs with the help of 10 fours and 3 sixes.
Team India’s explosive batter Virat Kohli batted brilliantly against New Zealand, reaching his century in 91 balls. This is Virat Kohli’s 54th ODI century. Kohli hit eight fours and two sixes in his 54th century. Virat now has a total of 85 centuries in international cricket. This was Kohli’s 35th century in his career. This was King Kohli’s seventh century against New Zealand. Furthermore, Virat Kohli has now become the batter with the most ODI centuries against New Zealand.
In the Indore ODI against New Zealand, Virat Kohli steadied the innings after the early losses of Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill. Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja were also dismissed cheaply, but Virat Kohli stood firm. Despite the rising asking rate, Virat Kohli continued to score runs quickly, reaching his century at a strike rate of over 100. A total of three centuries were scored in the Indore ODI. Before Virat, New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips also scored centuries.
Shubman Gill won the toss and invited the Kiwis to bat first. India had a strong start with the ball, losing two wickets for just five runs, but Mitchell and Phillips then took charge. He played a strong innings of 137 runs. This was Mitchell’s second century of the series. Glenn Phillips also joined Mitchell in scoring 106 runs off 88 balls. Centuries from both helped New Zealand post a total of 337 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana took 3 wickets each for Team India.
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Most Centuries in ODIs against New Zealand
No other batter has scored more centuries than Virat Kohli in ODIs against New Zealand. Previously, this record was jointly held by Ricky Ponting, Virender Sehwag, and Virat Kohli. All three had six centuries against New Zealand. However, Virat Kohli has now surpassed them, and this was also Kohli’s 41st century in India. The record for most centuries in India is held by Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 42 centuries in his career. Virat Kohli is just 2 centuries away from making this record in his name.
Team India lost the final match against New Zealand. For the first time in the history of Indian and New Zealand cricket, New Zealand has achieved the feat of winning an ODI series on Indian soil. Batting first in the third ODI, New Zealand set a target of 338 runs. Chasing the target, Team India had a poor start, and once again, the responsibility of batting fell on star batter Virat Kohli. Kohli fulfilled his responsibility admirably, playing a brilliant innings of 124 runs.
Virat Kohli Breaks Virender Sehwag’s Record
37-year-old Virat Kohli has broken a major record held by Indian legend Virender Sehwag. Virender Sehwag held the record for most centuries in ODIs between India and New Zealand, with six. However, Virat Kohli has now taken over this record. Virat now has seven centuries against New Zealand in ODIs, making him the highest-scoring batsman in India-New Zealand ODIs.
Strange Record Registered by Virat Kohli
With this, Virat Kohli has set a strange record. Virat Kohli has set a strange record while chasing a target. He has now become the number one player in cricket to achieve this feat. It is noteworthy that Virat Kohli has scored 54 centuries in his career so far. During this period, 9 centuries have been scored in Team India’s defeats. Five centuries were scored while chasing. Before Kohli, this record was held by Universe Boss Chris Gayle. Gayle had scored four centuries while chasing, in which his team faced defeat. Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar are also included in this list. They are tied at the bottom with 3 each.
Can Virat Break Sachin’s 100-Hundred Record?
Virat Kohli scored his 54th ODI century against New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. This was his 85th century in international cricket overall. Significantly, Kohli has now scored 41 centuries across all formats at home. Kohli’s bat is on fire. He is now just 15 centuries away from Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 centuries. It will be interesting to see if Kohli can break this historic record.
At the end, New Zealand won the match and created history. Virat Kohli tried his best to lead Team India to victory, but ultimately India lost. India’s innings was reduced to 296 runs in 46 overs, allowing New Zealand to win the match by 41 runs. With this, the visitors also won the series 2-1. This is a historic series win for New Zealand, as it marks the first time the Kiwis have defeated India in an ODI series at home.
Virat Kohli has once again created history and has become the first batter in the world to score the most centuries (10) against the Kiwi team. He has surpassed many great batters of the cricket world. Previously, Sachin Tendulkar, Joe Root, and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis had each scored nine centuries against New Zealand in international cricket, but now Virat Kohli has surpassed them all.
Virat Trashed Multiple Records
In this century, Virat Kohli also set a new record in ODI cricket against New Zealand. He has now reached his seventh ODI century against the Kiwi team. In this regard, he surpassed India’s Virender Sehwag and former Australian Ricky Ponting, who each had six ODI centuries against New Zealand.
If we look at the records, Virender Sehwag scored 1157 runs in 23 ODI innings against New Zealand, with a highest score of 130. Ricky Ponting scored 1971 runs in 50 ODI innings, including six centuries. Now, Virat Kohli has surpassed both these legends.
Kohli’s performance in this three-match ODI series was also commendable. He missed out on a century by scoring 93 runs in the first match, scored 23 runs in the second match, and created history by scoring a 124 runs in the third and decisive ODI.
However, despite Virat Kohli’s brilliant innings, the Indian team could not achieve victory. Chasing a target of 338 runs at the Holkar Stadium, considered a batter-friendly ground, India fell short by 41 runs. With this victory, New Zealand won the ODI series 2-1.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score 100 centuries in international cricket, followed by Virat Kohli in second place on this list. It’s also worth noting that Kohli has retired from Test and T20 international cricket and is now active only in the ODI format, where he continues to set new records every other day.
After the South Africa Series, Virat’s Excellent Form Continues against New Zealand
Earlier, in the series against South Africa, Kohli played memorable innings of 135 and 102, while in the first ODI against New Zealand, he fell just 7 runs short of a century. But in Indore, he did not miss any opportunity and brilliantly completed his century. This was Virat Kohli’s 54th ODI century of his career.
With this, his total number of centuries in international cricket has reached 85. This includes 30 centuries in Test cricket and one century in T20I. Virat Kohli is now just 15 behind Sachin Tendulkar for the most centuries in international cricket. Sachin has 100 centuries in all three formats combined.
Batters with the Most Centuries in International Cricket
Sachin Tendulkar – 100
Virat Kohli – 85
Ricky Ponting – 71
Kumar Sangakkara – 63
Jacques Kallis – 62
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It is worth noting that Kohli has already become the batter with the most centuries in ODI cricket. He has also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar in terms of scoring the most 100s in a single format. Furthermore, Kohli has now become the batter with the most centuries against New Zealand in ODIs and international cricket.