Sri Lanka vs India 2017, 5th ODI: Virat Kohli hits 30th ODI Ton to Equal Ricky Ponting’s Record
Sep 3, 2017 at 10:08 PM
India’s run-machine Virat Kohli reached yet another batting milestone, as he blazed away to a sensational century in the ongoing fifth One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
The India captain has now gone level with former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting regarding centuries in One-Day Internationals. With a staggering 30 centuries to his name, Kohli is now the joint-second with Ponting in the list of most centuries in the 50-over format. Kohli is now only behind his famous ex-teammate Sachin Tendulkar who has scored a mind-boggling 49 centuries in ODI cricket.
What is remarkable about Kohli’s centuries is the rate at which they have come. While Ponting took 375 ODIs to score 30 centuries, Kohli reached the mark in only his 194th game. The India captain walked into bat when the team lost its first wicket for just 17 and was later reduced to 29 for two in pursuit of 239 and showcased his incredible chasing ability once again, as he mixed caution with aggression to put India on the path to victory. By the time he reached his fifty, India were 123 for three.
Here is the list of leading Centurions in the 50-over format:
Player | Matches | Centuries |
SR Tendulkar (INDIA) | 463 | 49 |
RT Ponting (AUS/ICC) | 375 | 30 |
V Kohli (INDIA) | 194 | 30 |
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) | 445 | 28 |
HM Amla (SA) | 156 | 25 |
KC Sangakkara (Asia/ICC/SL) | 404 | 25 |
AB de Villiers (Afr/SA) | 222 | 24 |
CH Gayle (ICC/WI) | 269 | 22 |
SC Ganguly (Asia/INDIA) | 311 | 22 |
TM Dilshan (SL) | 330 | 22 |
Meanwhile, Kohli is also the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year. When the right-handed batsman scored his 100, he took his tally to 1007 runs in 18 games at a stunning average of 91.36. He is followed by South Africa star Faf du Plessis who has scored 814 in 16 games.