World Cup 2023: Virat Kohli hits 50th ODI hundred

Blog By: Priyanka Rana

 

World Cup 2023: Virat Kohli hits 50th ODI hundred, breaks Tendulkar’s long-standing record to script history

 

India’s legendary batter Virat Kohli scripted history on Wednesday (Nov 15) as he broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most ODI hundreds in the World Cup semifinal contest. With his 50th ton, he now has the most hundreds in the 50-over format as he leapfrogged Sachin Tendulkar’s tally in his own backyard of Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. He also broke Sachin’s record for most runs in a single ODI World Cup edition surpassing his tally of 673 runs.

 

Playing in the 291st ODI match, the Delhi-born batter scored his third World Cup hundred while also having got out on 95 and 88 runs in the tournament. The hundred is also his 80th on the international stage as he was given a standing ovation at the Wankhede Stadium. Great Sachin Tendulkar was in attendance to witness the historic moment along with legendary footballer David Beckham while superstars from Bollywood and politicians also attended the match along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

The feat now sees him at the top of the list with the most hundreds followed by Sachin with 49 while another Mumbai-based batter and India skipper Rohit Sharma sits third with 31. He is followed by Ricky Ponting and Sanath Jayasuriya with 30 and 28 ODI tons respectively.

Before the start of the match, Virat needed 83 runs to break Sachin’s record for most runs in a single edition of the ODI World Cup. He achieved the feat in the 34th over as he went past the tally and now has the most runs in a single edition with potentially another match to go at the global tournament.

Virat later fell for 117 and was given a standing ovation by the Mumbai crowd while Shreyas Iyer also scored a hundred in his hometown. India ended their innings with 397/4 while Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 80 as he also fired with the bat earlier having suffered cramps. At the time of writing, New Zealand were yet to start their innings and need 398 runs to book a place in the final on Sunday.