World Cup 2023, IND vs BAN: Virat Kohli slams century, India remain unbeaten

India maintained their unbeaten record in the World Cup after a 7-wicket win over Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 103 runs, crossing the winning line with a six and reaching the milestone at the same time, with Shubman Gill also scoring a fifty.

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Batting first, Bangladesh scored 256 runs with fifties from Tanzid Hasan (51) and Litton Das (66) at the top of the order. In reply, India reached the target with 51 balls to spare.

India and New Zealand are the only two unbeaten teams in the World Cup. Both India and New Zealand have won four matches in four. They will meet at Dharamsala and one winning streak will come to an end.

Kohli, targeting a personal milestone with winning line in sight without reason to be concerned, got there with a swipe six over deep mid-wicket. The century was Kohli’s 48th in ODI cricket and 27th in run-chases.

Earlier, The century also took Kohli within touching distance of Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds. Given how well Kohli is going, it won’t be a surprise if he reaches or surpasses the world record during the World Cup itself.

Kohli struck six fours and four sixes but it was his running between the wickets which stood out. Not chasing a massive target on a batting haven, Kohli focused on rotating strike instead of going for expansive shots. He collected 45 singles and five doubles during his unbeaten stay in the middle while scoring at better than run-a-ball.

Plenty of credit for the win should also go to Ravindra Jadeja (2/38) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/41) who applied the brakes on Bangladesh’s batting after a strong start. However, the win was tainted by an injury concern to Hardik Pandya who hobbled off the field with an apparent ankle injury.

“Sorry for stealing it (the player of the Match award) from Jaddu. I wanted to make a big contribution. Have made fifties in World Cups, wanted to finish it off this time,” Kohli said later.

While skipper Rohit Sharma (48 off 40 balls) and Shubman Gill (53 off 55 balls) added 88 in just 12.4 overs to set up the chase, it was a cakewalk for Kohli.

Once again, India’s bowling kept the opposition pegged back with Bangladesh only mustering 256/8 from 50 overs on a batting-friendly surface.

Bangladesh would rue squandering a positive start which placed them at 90/0 after 14 overs but India’s bowling roared back with regular wickets from then on. From 93/0, Bangladesh were reduced to 137/4 - conceding four wickets in 44 runs.

Kuldeep Yadav provided the first breakthrough and Ravindra Jadeja the second, as it was India all the way with Bangladesh going at under five runs per over after a robust beginning.

Jadeja must have been a strong contender for the Player of the Match had it not been for Kohli having produced a stellar performance with the ball posting figures of 10-0-38-2 and a superb diving catch to dismiss Mushfiqur Rahim.