Picture : Twitter/ BCCI
Superstar Virat Kohli in rich vein of form smashed his way to his third hundred in four innings after opener Shubman Gill’s sublime century as India thrashed Sri Lanka by a record 317 runs in the third and final ODI, in Thiruvananthapuram.
India batted Sri Lanka out of the match with the likes of – Skipper Rohit Sharma (42 off 49) and Gill (116 off 97) laying the platform for the massive total with a 95-run opening partnership before Kohli (166 not out off 110) did the needful with his 74th international hundred and 46th in ODIs as India amassed 390 for 5.
For his scintillating unbeaten century, @imVkohli gets the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia win by 317 runs 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/q4nA9Ff9Q2#INDvSL | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/uAOwcglERK
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 15, 2023
In reply, the Lankans were blown away for just 73 in 22 overs by pacer Mohammed Siraj, who took four wickets for 32 runs.
Siraj had Avishka Fernando caught at widish slip in the second over of the innings. It was a procession back to the pavilion thereafter for the Lankans with Siraj running through the top order.
Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with two wickets each. It is the biggest margin of victory by runs in the history of men’s ODIs
Kohli, who ended a nearly three-year wait for an international hundred in the Asia Cup last year, is back to his best and scoring hundreds at will in this World Cup year.
The 34-year-old is now three short of equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s World record of 49 centuries in One-Day Internationals. What is remarkable is his conversion ratio. He got to his 46th ton in 259 innings, while Tendulkar needed 452 innings to get to 49 centuries.
