It was his terrific knocks, in particular the run-chases, against stronger Sri Lankan bowling attacks in the early 4-5 years of his ODI career that had put Virat Kohli in the elite chasers list.
Throughout his career, Kohli has tamed the Sri Lankan team with his willow. And today’s knock – a sublime innings of 113 runs in 87 balls, with the help of 12 fours and 1 six – was a reminder of his sheer dominance over the neighboring islanders.
With this ODI century – his 45th, now only 4 behind Sachin Tendulkar – Kohli has made Sri Lanka the team against whom he’s been the most prolific in his ODI career so far.
He’s scored 2333 runs in ODI against Sri Lanka – the most he’s scored against any opposition in ODIs – at a splendid average of 61, having notched up 9 of his 45 tons against them, along with 11 half-centuries.
Most ODI runs vs an opponent for Virat Kohli:
2333 @61.39 vs Sri Lanka
2261 @66.50 vs West Indies
2083 @54.81 vs Australia
1403 @61.00 vs South Africa
Kohli had broken his ODI century barren run – that had extended for over 2-and-half years, in his last ODI of 2022, scoring 113 off 91 balls against Bangladesh, but his knock was overshadowed by the sizzling double century from Ishan Kishan.
Today, against Sri Lanka, once he stepped in the middle, it was all Virat Kohli, with the fans even forgetting about Rohit and Gill’s attractive 83 and 70, respectively.
Kohli worked around his batting partners, most of whom are still not settled parts of the ODI XI, and took upon the responsibility to be the aggressor on this flatbed at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
After the 143-run opening stand between Sharma and Gill, Kohli formed partnerships of 30 (21) with Sharma, 40 (36) with Iyer, 90 (70) with KL Rahul, 27 (21) with Pandya, and 32 (21) with Patel.
Eventually, after knocking over his 46th ODI century, Kohli got out for 113 runs off 87 balls, helping India to a giant total of 373. To maintain a strike rate of 129 over 87 deliveries was a huge effort from Kohli.
