Michael Vaughan After India's Win In 1st ODI against South africa Virat Kohli The 'Greatest Chaser

Michael Vaughan After India’s Win In 1st ODI against South africa Virat Kohli The ‘Greatest Chaser

Virat Kohli went one hundred closer to Sachin Tendulkar when he scored his 33rd ODI ton in the first ODI of the six match series against South Africa. A 189-run stand between Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane for the third wicket took the game beyond South Africa as India coasted to a six-wicket win. With the win, India ended their sorry record of six losses at Kingsmead, Durban for first ever win in the eastern part of the country. MS Dhoni got the winning runs for the visitors with a boundary. Kohli’s 112 run knock from 119 balls and Rahane’s 79 from 86 balls ended South Africa’s two year winning reign in ODIs at home which stretched to 17 matches. The last time South Africa were beaten at home was off England’s hands in February, 2016. Since then, the Proteas have won against Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Virat Kohli went one hundred closer to Sachin Tendulkar when he scored his 33rd ODI ton in the first ODI of the six match series against South Africa. A 189-run stand between Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane for the third wicket took the game beyond South Africa as India coasted to a six wicket win. With the win, India ended their sorry record of six losses at Kingsmead, Durban for first ever win in eastern part of the country. MS Dhoni got the winning runs for the visitors with a boundary. Kohli’s 112 run knock from 119 balls and Rahane’s 79 from 86 balls ended South Africa’s two year winning reign in ODIs at home which stretched to 17 matches. The last time South Africa were beaten at home was off England’s hands in February, 2016. Since then, the Proteas have won against Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India began on a positive note but both openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were out after getting starts. Rohit miscued a shot on 20 to be caught by ‘keeper Quint on de Kock off Morne Morkel. His partner Dhawan cut an angry figure sitting in the Indian dressing room after being run out on 35. Kohli called for a non-existent single in the 13th over of Indian chase as Dhawan inside edged one onto his pads. However, before he could react, Kohli was halfway down the pitch and Aiden Markram’s direct hit caught Dhawan well short of the crease at the non-striker’s end.India were 67/2 when Kohli and Rahane joined hands and together they steered the India innings in the forward direction. The duo added a record 189 runs for the third wicket before being separated in the 43rd over when Rahane, aiming to finish the game early, ended up being caught at long-on. His innings had five fours and two sixes.Kohli departed two overs later but not before he had played a thoroughly entertaining knock studded with 10 fours. He reached the three-figure mark with a four and celebrated his 33rd ODI ton animatedly – in his own inimitable style. MS Dhoni finished the chase in style with a four as India won with over four overs to spare and six wickets remaining. for south africa skipper , Faf du Plessis scored 120 runs to play a perfect counter attacking inning. He found support from Chris Morris at the other end before Kuldeep came back and ended that stand to put the game back in India’s favour as South Africa recovered to post a competitive 269/8. India spinners applied the brakes in the middle overs to reduce South Africa to 134/5 at one stage before captain Du Plessis (120) led the recovery. He was involved in the two highest partnerships of the South Africa innings. He first added 53 runs for the second wicket with Quinton de Kock (34) after Jasprit Bumrah gave India an early breakthrough in Hashim Amla (16). The praise for Kohli is not unfounded. The Indian run-machine averages 56.09 in ODIs with 33 centuries and 45 half-centuries to his name, however, the Indian captain has scored 18 hundreds in successful run chases at an incredible average of 94.04. Barring Pakistan where he is yet to play, Kohli has hit centuries in all the nine countries he has played in. Not just that India’s successful run chase also brought about an end to South Africa’s 17-match winning streak at home.

He is at is again .. The Greatest chaser the game has ever seen .. #Fact #SAvIND @imVkohli

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 1, 2018