11/30/25 11:50:00
Printable Page
11/30 11:49 CST Brilliant Kohli hits 52nd ODI century and India beats South
Africa by 17 runs
Brilliant Kohli hits 52nd ODI century and India beats South Africa by 17 runs
RANCHI, India (AP) --- Batting great Virat Kohli smashed his 52nd ODI century
and India went on to beat South Africa by 17 runs in their series opener on
Sunday.
Kohli's 135 off 120 balls powered India to 349-8 in 50 overs after the home
team lost its 19th consecutive toss and South Africa opted to field first.
South Africa made an impressive recovery after losing three early wickets as
Matthew Breetzke (72), Marco Jansen (70) and Corbin Bosch (67) struck
aggressive half centuries before the Proteas were bowled out for 332 in 49.2
overs.
"I just wanted to play the ball and enjoy the game of cricket," Kohli said.
"I've never been a believer of a lot of prep, all my cricket has been mental. I
work physically very hard, as long as my fitness levels are up and then you
visualize batting and feeling well, it's good."
South Africa comeback
South Africa stumbled to 11-3 inside the powerplay before recovering. Fast
bowler Harshit Rana (3-65) dismissed Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock for
ducks in the second over of the innings and Arshdeep Singh (2-64) found the
outside edge from captain Aiden Markram.
But South Africa batted aggressively with Tony de Zorzi (39) and Dewald Brevis
(37) scoring better than a run-a-ball to keep their team in the hunt.
Jansen came in to bat in the 22nd and the bowlers found it difficult to hit the
right lengths with the wet ball because of dew.
Jansen smashed eight fours and three sixes in his 39-ball knock as he raised
his half century off 26 balls with Breetzke taking a backseat in a whirlwind
stand of 97 runs. But wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (4-68) claimed both wickets
when the batters went for big shots in the 34th over as South Africa slipped to
228-7.
Bosch's 51-ball knock took the game deep in the company of tailenders and hit
five fours and four sixes. He had reduced the target to 18 off the final over
before he got caught in the covers as the last man out.
____
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
|
