Vote for the best Kohli ODI hundred - Nagpur 115* vs Hobart 133*
Two innings in which we saw the best of Virat Kohli's chasing prowess
ESPNcricinfo staff
23-Nov-2023
With Virat Kohli becoming the first to score 50 ODI hundreds, we are asking you to pick his best century in the format. From eight shortlisted hundreds, we are now down to the final four. The innings with more votes in this match-up moves to the final round in our bracket.
Voting for this match-up has ended. The 133* vs Sri Lanka in Hobart moves to the final round.
Kohli walked in during the 30th over of the chase, with India 178 for 1 in pursuit of 351 to level the series at 2-2. After Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had put on a 178-run partnership, Kohli continued his rich vein of form in the series, smashing four fours and a six in the first 18 balls he faced, and brought up his fifth consecutive score of 50 or more. In the 41st over, he hit a hat-trick of fours off Mitchell Johnson, who struck twice in his next over. From 62 off 48, the equation became 35 off 18. Kohli, though, pulled out some of the most incredible shots of his innings, driving chest-high balls for fours wide of long-off, to take India through with three balls to spare. His hundred came in the 49th over and off 61 balls, the third-fastest by an Indian in ODIs, just two weeks after he had smashed the fastest. It was the second Kohli hundred in a successful chase of 350+ in the series, making India the first team to achieve the feat twice.
On a long tour of Australia, Kohli was in combat mode. He had already flipped off the Sydney crowd, had verbal battles with Mitch Johnson and most of the Australia team, got his first Test hundred, in Adelaide, and celebrated it with some aggressive bat-waving and swearing. Now, in the tri-series, India were set an improbable task to keep their hopes of making the finals alive: they needed to chase 321 in 40 overs or under to get a bonus point. Kohli, who came in at 86 for 2, stitched together a 115-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir and then cut loose. A hat-trick of boundaries off Nuwan Kulasekara came, followed by an angry thud over the covers off Thisara Perera. The final flourish was a 24-run over off Lasith Malinga. In all, he scored 44 runs off 15 deliveries from Malinga, consigning the best death bowler in the world to the poorest economy rate (minimum of five overs) in an ODI innings at that time. By the time the winning shot - an off drive for four - was hit, it was clear that this was a next-generational talent. And yes, India were home in 36.4 overs.