Virat Kohli of India plays a shot during the 3rd ODI match between India and New Zealand at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, India, on January 18, 2026. (CREIMAS for BCCI)
Virat Kohli scored his 54th ODI century on Sunday as he waged an almost lone battle against New Zealand in the 3rd ODI in Indore. Kohli got to his ton in 91 deliveries in an innings studded with 8 fours and 2 sixes as he tried to get India over the line as they chased 337 runs.
With this ton, Kohli now tops the list of batters with most number of centuries against the Kiwis with 7 centuries. Ricky Ponting and Virender Sehwag have 6 each while Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya have 5. Kohli also became the batter with the mots runs from the number 3 position. This latest 100 was his 85th international century and his 41st in india.
India had started well with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill getting their team to 28 before the former fell for 11 off Zakary Foulkes. Gill would follow suit after he was cleaned up by Kyle Jamieson for 23 runs. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul did not make much of an impact as well as they fell for just 3 and 1 respectively as Kohli stood in the other end, seeing the the wickets tumble.
Nitish Kumar Reddy finally helped India and Kohli build some momentum but the allrounder fell for 53 as soon as he was starting to look good. Ravindar Jadeja would be the next man to depart for just 12 as Kohli carried on with Hrashit Rana.
Earlier, Daryl Mitchell’s second consecutive hundred and Glenn Phillips’ blistering century powered New Zealand to a competitive 337 for eight despite early jolts from India’s pace attack.
Mitchell (137) and Phillips (106) stitched together a 219-run partnership for the fourth wicket that turned the innings on its head.
Calm and authoritative, Mitchell anchored the stand while Phillips provided the momentum, allowing New Zealand to shift gears after a cautious start.
India were controlling the innings at one stage, having reduced the visitors to 58 for three but Mitchell and Phillips made it a contest.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, brought in for Prasidh Krishna, made an immediate impact by removing Henry Nicholls (0) with a beauty in the opening over.
Coming closer to the off-stump, Arshdeep (3/63) shaped the ball away to perfection as Nicholls, caught in two minds, withdrew his bat late and saw the delivery take the inside edge and crash into the leg-stump.
Arshdeep and fellow seamer Harshit Rana (3/84) hit the deck hard and extracted just enough movement to keep the New Zealand batters under check early on.
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