Raipur— Virat Kohli delivered another masterclass in ODI cricket, scoring his 53rd century during the second match of the three-game series against South Africa at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Wednesday. The veteran batter reached the milestone in 90 balls, marking his second consecutive hundred of the series.
Kohli had already set the tone in the first ODI with a superb 135 off 120 balls during India’s narrow 17-run win in Ranchi. His latest knock extended his tally to 84 international centuries, keeping him just behind Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100.
The Indian star also continued his remarkable consistency, now owning 11 separate streaks of back-to-back ODI centuries — nearly double that of AB de Villiers, who has six.
Kohli anchored India’s innings once again with a fluent 102 off 93 deliveries, striking seven boundaries and two sixes. His composed approach allowed India to rebuild after early setbacks, and he forged a brilliant 195-run fourth-wicket partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Gaikwad, 28, celebrated his maiden ODI hundred with a sparkling 105 off 83 balls, hitting 12 fours and two sixes. His dismissal ended a crucial stand that pulled India comfortably past the 250-run mark. The strong middle-order display came after both openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal (22) and Rohit Sharma (14), fell cheaply.
South African captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first. After resting in the opening ODI, both Bavuma and spinner Keshav Maharaj returned to the playing XI.
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (wk/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
