New Delhi: Indian skipper Virat Kohli was in sublime form as he scored an unbeaten 122 off 94 balls to lead India to a massive 356/2 in the Super Four match of the Asia Cup against Pakistan on Monday. Kohli hit nine fours and three sixes in his innings and reached his 47th ODI century, also his 77th international hundred.
With this knock, Kohli also became the fastest batsman to complete 13,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this feat in his 267th innings, surpassing the previous record of Sachin Tendulkar, who took 321 innings to reach the milestone. Kohli is only the fifth batsman in ODI history to score 13,000 runs, after Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Kohli’s ODI career has been phenomenal, as he has scored 13,024 runs at an average of 57.62 in 278 matches. His highest score in ODIs is 183, which he made against Pakistan in 2012. He has also scored 65 fifties in the format.
Kohli was well supported by KL Rahul, who scored an unbeaten 111 off 97 balls. The duo added 223 runs for the third wicket and took the game away from Pakistan. Shubhman Gill (58) and Rohit Sharma (56) also gave valuable contributions. For Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan were the only wicket-takers.
India has set a daunting target of 357 for Pakistan, who will have to pull off a miraculous chase to stay alive in the tournament. India has already beaten Pakistan twice in the group stage and will look to complete a hat-trick of wins over their arch-rivals.
