Virat Kohli brought up his 51st ODI century as he guided India to a win over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday. This defeat puts Pakistan on the brink of elimination as they’ll have to pray that Bangladesh defeat New Zealand on Monday and then they themselves have to defeat Bangladesh in their last group match with the net run rate likely to come in play.
Kohli who looked in inspired form got to his milestone in 111 deliveries in an innings studded with 7 fours. It was a typical photo finish to the contest as Kohli got to his century in the last ball of the match, slamming a boundary. He was ably supported in the middle by Shreyas Iyer who scored a half century in 63 deliveries after an uncharacteristic slow start before shifting gears.
Earlier, Kohli had become the fastest batter to reach 14,000 ODI runs during the match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The 36-year-old Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar (350 innings), by achieving the feat in only 287 innings. Kohli got to the landmark when he reached 15 runs in the chase against Pakistan.
Kohli is only the third batter ever to reach the milestone after Tendulkar and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara who crossed the milestone in 378 innings in 2015. The former India captain only took 10 innings to cross from 13,000 to 14,000. In September 2023, Kohli reached his 13,000th ODI run, incidentally while playing Pakistan in the Asia Cup in Colombo.
Earlier, India bowled out Pakistan for 241 with Saud Shakeel top-scoring for Pakistan with a 62 off 76 balls, while skipper Mohammad Rizwan made a laborious 46 from 77 deliveries as the two batters added 104 runs for the third wicket.
Khushdil Shah chipped in with a 39-ball 38 to lift Pakistan after they slipped to 165 for five at the start of the 37th over.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/40) picked up three wickets after all-rounder Hardik Pandya (2/31) dismissed Babar Azam (23) and Shakeel.
Harshit Rana bowled an excellent last over, picking up a wicket without conceding a run.
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