Birthday boy Virat Kohli equals Sachin Tendulkar’s record with 49th ODI ton | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Batting virtuoso Virat Kohli on Sunday slammed a record-equalling 49th one-day international century as he drew level with legendary Sachin Tendulkar for most tons in the format.
Firing the long-awaited ton, Kohli got to three-figure mark off 119 balls as his hundred was laced with 10 boundaries.
Kohli’s century came against South Africa at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata in India’s eighth game of the ODI World Cup.
With the ton, Kohli also became the first batter ever to score 50 centuries in white-ball cricket — has one T20I ton against Afghanistan as well.
It turned out to be a special ton for Kohli as he notched up the record-equalling ton on his 35th birthday.
With the sensational effort, Kohli also became the third India batter after Sachin and Vinod Kambli to register a century on his birthday.
Kohli, who has already scored a ton in this World Cup against Bangladesh (103 not out), had previously missed on the record-equalling ton on three occasions, getting dismissed for 95, 88 and 85 against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia respectively.
The century is now also Kohli’s fourth in ODI World Cups.
Along with the ton, Kohli also became second India batter to score 3,000 runs against South Africa after Sachin.
Kohli on Sunday also went past the 500-run mark in a single World Cup for the first time ever.