Virat Kohli produced another landmark performance in Thiruvananthapuram, combining a blistering century with a string of records as India brushed aside West Indies in the first ODI.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 139, reaching his hundred from just 74 balls, as India posted a commanding total after being set up by Shubman Gill’s 110. Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav had claimed four wickets to put India firmly in control.
For Virat Kohli, however, the night was about much more than the result.
Virat Kohli joins Sachin Tendulkar at 60 List A hundreds
Virat Kohli’s century took his tally of hundreds in List A one-day cricket to 60, bringing him level with Sachin Tendulkar for the most in the format.
The difference in the route to that milestone was striking. Kohli reached his 60 hundreds in 338 innings, while Tendulkar needed 538. Of Kohli’s 60 centuries, 55 have come for India in ODIs, with the remaining five scored for Delhi.
The innings also saw Kohli become only the second batter to reach 15,000 ODI runs. He crossed the mark when he reached 61, doing so in his 303rd innings. Tendulkar reached the same milestone in 377 innings.
Kohli’s dominance against West Indies continued as well. His 10th ODI hundred against them moved him level with his own record against Sri Lanka for the most centuries by a batter against a single opposition.
A hundred built on power
This was not a typical Virat Kohli century built around running hard and finding gaps. There was considerable power in the innings.
He smashed nine sixes, the most he has hit in an ODI innings. His previous best was eight, also against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram in 2023.
The nine sixes also set a new mark for an Indian batter against West Indies, surpassing Rohit Sharma’s eight.
Kohli was particularly severe against Alzarri Joseph, taking 53 runs from 26 balls against the West Indies fast bowler. It was the second-highest number of runs Kohli has scored off a single bowler in an ODI innings, narrowly behind the 54 he took from Trent Boult in Mohali in 2016.
His century came at a strike rate of 157.95, making it his third-fastest ODI hundred. His quicker hundreds came against Australia in 2013, when he reached three figures in 52 balls in Jaipur and 61 balls in Nagpur.
Gill joins the landmark night
Kohli was not the only Indian batter to leave the field with a significant milestone.
Gill struck 110 to register his 10th ODI century in only his 67th innings. That puts him alongside Fakhar Zaman as the joint-third quickest batter to reach 10 ODI hundreds. Only Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla got there faster.
Gill also produced an unusually clean innings. He played only one false shot before reaching his hundred, a record-low figure for an Indian batter in an ODI since such data has been tracked.
India’s batting accuracy was reflected in the overall innings. Across 41.4 overs, the Indian batters played only 10 false shots, accounting for just 4.3 percent of their deliveries.
Another milestone in India
Kohli’s unbeaten 139 also pushed his ODI tally in India to 7,006 runs from 128 innings. He moved past Tendulkar’s 6,976 runs, becoming the highest run-scorer in ODI cricket in a single country.
The match was part of an extraordinary day for ODI batting. Six centuries were scored across three matches, with Temba Bavuma, David Miller, Tom Banton, Justin Greaves, Gill and Kohli all reaching three figures.
But in Thiruvananthapuram, the spotlight belonged to Kohli.
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