(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Modern-day great, Virat Kohli, the ‘Ton Machine,’ yet again shone bright under the wet skies of Colombo as he set significant records.
Kohli smashed an 84-ball hundred and ended his unbeaten innings on 122 runs in 94 balls, which included nine fours and three sixes.
He became the fastest batter to reach 13,000 runs in ODI cricket, achieving this milestone in his 267th innings. Sachin Tendulkar achieved this feat in 321 innings, whereas Ricky Ponting, who is third on the list, recorded it in 341 innings.
With this world record, Kohli now is the quickest to score 8,000, 9,000, 10,000, 11,000, 12,000, and 13,000 ODI runs.
The 34-year-old, in the match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023, smashed his 47th ODI ton, taking his overall tally to 77.
Moreover, Kohli also became the first player to score ODI centuries in four consecutive innings at a single venue. His last four scores at Colombo are 128*, 131, 110*, and 122*.
Kohli took 55 balls to get to his half-century and needed only 29 more balls to reach his 47th ODI hundred. Kohli is now only two hundreds away from Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI hundreds.
With this century, he has now become second batter along with Kumar Sangakkara to score four hundreds in the ODI Asia Cups after Sanath Jayasuriya (6).
Kohli formed a 233-run partnership with KL Rahul, who came back from an injury.
Rahul also made his sixth ODI hundred, scoring unbeaten 111 runs in 106 balls.