In the Asia Cup, Super 4 match against Pakistan on Monday in Colombo, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul put in a superb performance.
Though the rain may have put a damper on Sunday’s festivities, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s outstanding performance against Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super 4 match on Monday—also the reserve day—left spectators spellbound. Due to inclement weather, the proceedings, which were supposed to begin at 3 o’clock, were once again delayed. However, what happened next at the R Premadasa Stadium was unquestionable devastation from India’s top batters.
After 24.1 overs, India’s innings was resumed at 147/2. Kohli and Rahul immediately made their intentions known and kept the scoreboard ticking quickly. The pair went on to hit their respective tonnes, came back unbeaten, and helped India reach a massive 356/2 in 50 overs. This total, along with India’s 356/9 score at Vishakhapatnam in 2005, is also their joint-highest in ODIs against their bitter rivals.
From 94 deliveries, Kohli hit 122* runs, including nine 4s and three 6s. Rahul ended at 111* from 106 balls in his first game since returning from injury. His innings included two maximums and 12 boundaries.
The pair put up the highest-scoring third-wicket partnership in Asia Cup history, an unbroken 233-run partnership that was added together. Additionally, against Pakistan, this is the strongest partnership ever by an Indian pair.
Highest partnership in ODI Asia Cup
233 – V Kohli & KL Rahul vs PAK, today*
224 – M Hafeez & N Jamshed vs IND, 2012
223 – S Malik & Younis Khan vs HK, 2004
214 – Babar & Iftikhar Ahmed vs NEP, 2023
Highest partnership for India vs Pakistan in ODIs:
233* – V Kohli & KL Rahul, Colombo (RPS), today* (3rd wkt)
231 – NS Sidhu & SR Tendulkar, Sharjah, 1996 (2nd wkt)
210 – S Dhawan & R Sharma, Dubai (DSc), 2018 (1st wkt)
201 – Rahul Dravid & V Sehwag, Kochi, 2005 (3rd wkt)
While this was Kohli’s fourth consecutive ODI century at Colombo, the city continued to be a happy hunting ground for him. With this, Kohli increased his total number of centuries in this format to 47, and he is now just two centuries short of Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
Consecutive hundreds at the same venue in ODIs
4 – Hashim Amla, Centurion
4* – VIRAT KOHLI, Colombo RPS
3 – Zaheer Abbas, Lahore
3 – Saeed Anwar, Sharjah
3 – Sanath Jayasuirya, Sydney
3 – Quinton de Kock, Centurion
3* – Rohit Sharma, Birmingham
Kohli went on to reach another milestone during his innings, becoming the hitter to reach 13,000 runs in ODIs the fastest. The accomplishment was made by Kohli in his 267th game. He has already surpassed 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, and 120000 ODI runs faster than any other hitter.
This was the fourth occasion when India’s top four batsmen all came back with a score of 50 or more. The India captain Rohit Sharma and his opening partner Shubman Gill gave the team a great start by putting up a 122-run stand for the first wicket before Kohli and Rahul struck respective tonnes. Gill was stopped for 58 off 52 deliveries, while Rohit was stopped for 56 off 49 balls.
