Kohli's record-equalling ton gives India strong total
Virat Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds as India posted a competitive 326 on a tricky Eden Gardens surface against South Africa. Kohli's steady 101* was the anchor around useful knocks from Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja as India went through different gears over the 50 overs to post what Kohli described as an 'above par' total.
It seemed like a very different pitch when Rohit Sharma took guard after winning the toss on a sultry afternoon in Kolkata. As is his wont, the Indian captain set the tempo with a blistering 24-ball 40 in which he took on South Africa's new-ball pairing of Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen. Rohit chanced his arm, hitting six fours and two sixes in an opening stand of 62 in just 5.5 overs. Shubmam Gill was a willing partner to this early show of bravado and boundaries flowed from both ends before Kagiso Rabada applied the breaks by having Rohit caught at mid-off to a rasping drive.
Despite the loss of that wicket, India had 91 in the PowerPlay and left South Africa's expert in this phase - Jansen - wicketless. But the introduction of spin in the 11th over changed the complexion of the game. With his third ball, Keshav Maharaj produced a magic ball that dipped on Gill to pitch on leg stump and spin past his attempted forward defence to hit top of off.
With the pitch offering substantial turn, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer dealt in a diet of singles with the phase between 11-20 bringing just a solitary boundary in a stark contrast to the 10 overs before that. While Maharaj bowled his 10 overs on the trot without conceding a single boundary, South Africa's second spinner on the afternoon - Tabraiz Shamsi - struggled with his control and his errors in length were quickly cashed in on by Iyer, who quickly upped the scoring rate after the aforementioned period of stasis.
Both batters got to their fifties and pushed the run-rate back above six runs per over. The dominant partner now, Iyer welcomed the returning Jansen with three fours in an over but against the run of play, his enterprising knock ended on 77 when he miscued an attempted lofted shot off Ngidi. KL Rahul and Kohli struggled to find the same fluency against the older ball, the former perishing to Jansen. Overs 35-40 brought India only 20 runs and boundaries got harder to come by.
Kohli continued to keep plugging away at one end, hitting the gaps and running hard for his runs. He was helped in the quest to push India past 300 by a pair of cameos from Suryakumar Yadav (22 off 14) and Ravindra Jadeja (29* off 15). Kohli got to the much-awaited milestone off the 119th ball he faced - making it his joint-slowest century in the format - but the flourish at the other end meant India left South Africa having to chase a daunting score against the tournament's most vaunted bowling attack.
Brief scores: India 326/5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 101*, Shreyas Iyer 77; Keshav Maharaj 1-30) vs South Africa
Source: Cricbuzz
