2nd ODI: Virat Kohli Smashes 40th ODI Hundred, 7th Against Australia

Virat Kohli led from the front on yet another occasion as he waged a lone battle and scored his 40th One-day International (ODI) century off 107 balls to lift India after early wickets in the second ODI against Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, on Tuesday. The Indian captain smashed nine boundaries to reach the triple figure, when India were 225 for six in 43.1 overs. After opting to bowl, Australia bowlers struck in regular intervals and looked to dominate the proceedings. However, Virat Kohli led the resistance for the men-in-blue and lifted them to a respectable position.

This is Kohli's seventh ODI century against Australia, with the last being scored in Adelaide during India's recent tour Down Under. Recently, India won the three-match series 2-1, registering their first-ever ODI bilateral series victory in Australia.

India are leading the five-match ODI series 1-0 as they won the first ODI by six wickets in Hyderabad on Saturday.

In the second ODI, India made a hesitant start as opener Rohit Sharma departed for zero in the first over. Other opener Shikhar Dhawan managed to score 21 runs, while India's number four batsman Ambati Rayudu was dismissed for mere 18 runs off 32 balls.

Earlier, Kohli broke former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's record to become the fastest to score 9,000 international runs as a captain. 

Kohli achieved the milestone when he reached 22 runs in Nagpur. He Kohli reached the 9,000-run mark as a skipper in 159 innings while Ponting took 203 innings to reach the same figure. 

Kohli also became the sixth player to score 9,000 runs in international cricket as captain. Graeme Smith (220 innings), MS Dhoni (253), Allan Border (257), Stephen Fleming (272) are the other former captains in the list.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Virat Kohli India vs Australia, 2018/19 Cricket India vs Australia, 2nd ODI