Virat Kohli Overtakes Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum For Most Fifties in T20s
Virat Kohli scored a 47-ball 89* against West Indies in the WorldT20 semifinal. He reached his third half-century of the tournament in just 33 balls. It was his 16th T20I half-century, surpassing Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum, who have 15 fifties.
Highlights
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Virat Kohli is India's highest run-getter in World T20.
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Virat's fifty was his 16th in T20IS
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His 47-ball innings included 11 fours and one six.
Virat Kohli has been the shining star of India's World T20 campaign. In the semifinal against West Indies, he continued his brilliant form with a 47-ball 89* at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. (India vs West Indies semifinal Highlights | Scorecard)
This was Kohli's 16th T20I half-century and the third of this tournament. Courtesy this half-century, the 27-year-old Delhi lad surpassed Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum for most fifties in T20Is. Both the players have 15 half-centuries each to their names. This is also Kohli's second-highest score in T20s.
His innings against West Indies included 11 fours and one six, though the most crucial part of his innings was the ease with which he and Rahane stole the singles and twos. However, the effort went in van as India lost the match by seven wickets.
After his 82* against Australia, Kohli was compared to Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Don Bradman. Those comparisons are bound to be done again after his stellar show against West Indies.
After Rohit Sharma (43) had given India brilliant start, Kohli and Rahane (40) stitched a 49-ball 66-run stand to take India towards a big total. Though the latter fell to Andre Russell in the 16th over, Kohli remained unbeaten to take India to 192/2.
Shaky start
Kohli, who arrived at the pitch after the Rohit's dismissal, was a bit shaky at the start as he survived a run out in the ninth over. But he steadied ship with a four against Dwayne Bravo.
With a more set batsman in Rahane at the pitch, Kohli didn't go for the big shots in the three overs after he hit his first boundary. However, from the 13th over, Kohli hit at least one boundary in every over, except the 16th, till the end of the Indian innings.
Change of tempo from 17th over
He notched his fifty in the 17th over as he hit two runs off Carlos Brathwaite. Kohli was at his hitting-best in the 17th, 18th and the 19th overs.
In the 17th he hit Brathwaite for a couple of fours in the deep and third man region respectively. He repeated the feat in the 18th, bowled by Dwayne Bravo, this time in the long-on and long-off regions respectively.
However, he was most severe on Russell in the 19th over. The medium-pacer was hit over long-on for a huge six by Kohli. He did not stop there as he went on to hit two fours in the cover and long on region.