Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 3 : Indian batting legend Virat Kohli continued his fine run against South Africa and ate further into record books with his second successive century against the Proteas in the second ODI of the three-match series at Raipur on Wednesday.
After slamming an explosive 120-ball 135 in the first ODI at Ranchi, consisting of 11 fours and seven sixes, Virat continued his sublime form in the ODIs, scoring a 93-ball 102, with seven fours and two sixes. He struck at 109.68 while taking minimal risks, proving his mastery in the format with his risk-free accumulation, top-class speed while running between the wickets and brilliant judgement while taking singles and doubles.
Virat against South Africa in ODIs is a different beast, and that beast has gone notches above statistically against the Proteas. In 33 matches and 31 innings, Virat has scored 1,741 runs at an average of 69.64 against the Proteas at a strike rate of 88.51, with seven centuries and eight fifties. This is the most centuries against Proteas in ODI format by a batter.
Also, with this second successive ton in ODIs, this is the 11th instance when Virat has had a streak of centuries in two or more successive ODI innings, with Proteas legend AB de Villiers being his distant rival with six such instances.
He has also had 13 different streaks of three or more successive innings with 50-plus scores in ODIs, the highest by any batter, and Rohit Sharma is second with 11 such streaks.
Notably, his last three ODI knocks against South Africa have been centuries, the 101* at Kolkata against them in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and two centuries in this series.
In 12 ODIs this year, Virat has scored 586 runs in 12 innings at an average of 58.60, with a strike rate of 92.72, including three centuries, three fifties and a best score of 135.
Notably, Virat stands just 90 runs away from joining Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara in the 28,000-run club in international cricket. In 555 international matches, he has made 27,910 runs at an average of 52.46, with 84 centuries and 144 fifties in 622 innings and a best score of 254*. He is the third-highest international run-getter of all time, with Sachin (34,357 runs) at the top.
Coming to the Raipur ODI, India was put to bat first by the Proteas, who had the hosts down at 62/2 after dismissals of Rohit Sharma (14) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22). Virat (102 in 93 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Ruturaj (105 in 83 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes) put on a 195-run stand for the third wicket, putting India in command. Later, KL Rahul (66* in 43 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (24* in 27 balls, with two fours) finished off in style with a quickfire 69-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Marco Jansen (2/63) was the top bowler for the Proteas.
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