Port of Spain: On the way to his 43rd One Day International century, India captain Virat Kohli created yet another world record as he became the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in 10 years. On Wednesday, Kohli scored his second consecutive century to help India beat West Indies by six wickets in the third and final ODI of the three-match rubber.
The 30-year-old played an unbeaten knock of 114 to help India chase down the revised target of 255 (DLS method), thereby clinching the series 2-0.
On the list of most international runs scored in a decade, Kohli is followed by former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting who scored 18,962 runs. Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis is third in the list with 16,777 runs, followed Mahela Jayawardene (16,304 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (15,999 runs), Sachin Tendulkar (15,962 runs), Rahul Dravid (15,853 runs), and Hashim Amla (15,185 runs).
Kohli's ton on Wednesday also helped him equal Tendulkar's record of most number of centuries against a single opposition in ODI cricket. While Kohli has scored nine centuries against Windies, Tendulkar had scored nine tons against Australia.
The Indian skipper is also just one century away from equalling Ricky Ponting in the number of centuries scored by a skipper in ODIs.
Chasing a stiff revised 255-run target on Duckworth-Lewis method on Wednesday, Kohli scored unbeaten 114 and was ably supported by Shreyas Iyer to guide India to a comfortable six-wicket win which translated into a 2-0 series victory in the three-match rubber.
Earlier in the day, Chris Gayle playing in probably his last ODI smashed 72 runs to help Windies post a competitive 240/7 in the rain-curtailed match after they elected to bat. Gayle, whose jersey had the number 301 on its back as a nod towards the number of ODIs he has played, was congratulated by the Indian players and given a standing ovation by the crowd as he walked off.
