The Indian cricket team has registered a one-sided and spectacular victory by 8 wickets in the first match of the three-match ODI series against the West Indies. In this match played at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, the visiting team West Indies had set a strong target of 296 runs for India to win. The Indian team achieved this target very easily by losing 2 wickets in just 41.4 overs.
Explosive century by Kohli and Shubman Gill
In this resounding victory of the Indian team, the bat of former captain Virat Kohli stood tall. Kohli played a blazing unbeaten inning of 139 runs in just 88 balls, which included 10 brilliant fours and 9 skyscraper sixes. This is the 55th century of Kohli’s ODI career and 86th century of his overall international career. Virat made a huge partnership of 151 runs with captain Shubman Gill for the second wicket. Shubman Gill also batted well and scored 110 runs in 108 balls with the help of 13 fours and 1 six, which was the 10th century of his ODI career.
Virat Kohli made 10 historical records in Thiruvananthapuram:
1. Fastest 15 thousand ODI runs Virat Kohli has become the fastest batsman to complete 15,000 runs in ODI cricket. He broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli achieved this feat in just 303 innings (15,950 balls), whereas Sachin took 377 innings (17,528 balls/balls) to achieve this.
2. Second batsman in the world to score 15 thousand runs Virat Kohli has become the second batsman in the world to touch the mark of 15,000 runs in ODI history. Only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs, 463 matches) is ahead of him. Kohli has now scored 15,080 runs in 315 ODI matches.
3. 10th ODI century against West Indies After Sri Lanka (10 centuries), West Indies has become the second team against which Virat has scored 10 ODI centuries. Kohli is the only batsman in the world who has scored 10-10 ODI centuries against two different teams.
4. Third fastest ODI century Virat completed his century in 74 balls in this match. This is his third fastest century in terms of balls in ODI cricket. His fastest ODI century came against Australia in 52 balls.
5. Sachin’s equal in List-A cricket Kohli has equaled the great Sachin Tendulkar (60 centuries) in terms of scoring the most centuries in List-A cricket. Kohli scored his 60th List-A century in just 338 innings, whereas Sachin took 538 innings for this.
6. 42nd international century on Indian soil This was Virat Kohli’s 42nd century (in 260 innings) in international cricket on Indian grounds. With this, he has equaled Sachin Tendulkar (42 centuries in 313 innings) in terms of scoring the most number of international centuries in India.
7. Overtook Ponting in successful run chase Virat Kohli (112 wins) has left behind former Australia captain Ricky Ponting (111 wins) in terms of being a part of the most wins in successful ODI run chases. Sachin Tendulkar (127) tops this list.
8. Scored 53 runs against Alzarri Joseph During the match, Virat adopted an aggressive stance against West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph and scored 53 runs. This is the second most runs scored by Kohli against a single bowler in an ODI innings (topped by Trent Boult – 54 runs, 2016).
9. 9 sixes hit for the first time in an ODI innings For the first time in his ODI career, Virat Kohli achieved the feat of hitting 9 sixes in a single innings. Earlier, he had hit 8 sixes against Sri Lanka on the same ground in 2023.
10. First batsman to score 7000 runs in domestic ODI Virat Kohli has become the first player in the world to complete 7,000 runs on home grounds (Home ODIs). He now has 7,006 runs in his name on Indian soil. Sachin Tendulkar (6,976 runs) is at second place in this list.