Virat Kohli smashes his 65th ODI half-century, leaves behind legends
Australia beat India in the 3rd ODI in Chennai to seal the three-match series 2-1. The Men in Yellow successfully defended 269, with spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar shining forth. Virat Kohli scored the sole fifty of the match, slamming a 72-ball 54. It was his 65th ODI half-century. He also left behind Ricky Ponting in terms of ODI runs at home.
A balanced knock by Kohli
Kohli played another defiant knock, laced with meticulous singles and doubles. Although he was deceived on quite a few occasions, he held his ground. The 34-year-old slammed his 65th half-century in ODI cricket, eventually finishing with 54 off 72 deliveries (2 fours, 1 six). Kohli shared a 69-run stand with KL Rahul and later added 34 runs with Pandya.
Kohli attains these feats
During his knock, Kohli broke Australian legend Ponting's record of scoring 5,406 ODI runs at home. The former now has the second-most runs in home ODIs, having slammed 5,447 runs at 57.94. He is only behind Sachin Tendulkar (6,976). Meanwhile, Kohli (47) also surpassed legend Jacques Kallis (46) in terms of most 50+ scores in home ODIs. Tendulkar tops this list too (58).
How did the 3rd ODI pan out?
Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head shared a 61-run stand after Australia elected to bat. None of the Australian batters scored a fifty, with Marsh being their top scorer. Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets each. India too collapsed from 65/1 to 185/6, with Kohli playing a crucial knock. While Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja inspired some hope, Australia bowled India out (248).
Kohli averages 52.97 against Australia
Kohli has mustered 2,172 runs in 46 ODIs versus Australia at 52.97 (SR: 95.34). Only Tendulkar (3,077), Desmond Haynes (2,262), Rohit Sharma (2,251), and Vivian Richards (2,187) have accumulated more ODI runs against them. Kohli's tally of eight ODI tons versus Australia is only second to Tendulkar (9). The former has also smoked 11 fifties versus the Aussies in the format.
Kohli has been among runs
Kohli, in his last 10 ODIs, has accumulated 540 runs at an incredible average of 60.00. He has struck at 117.64 in these games. Meanwhile, the tally includes as many as three tons. He would be determined to extend his stellar run.
