The stand-in captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, scored yet another century in the first ODI match against Zimbabwe and guided India to a comfortable 6-wicket victory.
It was Kohli’s 15th ODI ton. He is the quickest in the world to reach that milestone. He has done that in just 108 games.
It was a seaming pitch at Harare and batting was not that easy. India had to hunt down a target of 229 runs and they lost both their openers cheaply.
But, Kohli as usual showed fantastic composure and put up a partnership of 159 runs with the debutant Ambati Rayudu for the 3rd wicket to take India close to the target.
Although, Kohli got dismissed after completing his century but, before that, he had put the match beyond Zimbabwe’s reach.
Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik saw India home quite comfortably after that.
Talking to the reporters in the post match press conference, Kohli said, “It’s fantastic to start the tour on a winning note. It was not easy at the start as the ball was moving around. It was important to survive that tough period and we managed to do that.”
“I would like to congratulate Ambati Rayudu for having a great debut match. He waited for quite a few years to make it to the Indian team and when he got his chance today, he grabbed it with both hands.”
Rayudu scored a half century and ended up being not out on 63 runs. He faced 84 deliveries and hit 4 fours.
When asked about the performance of the bowlers, Kohli said, “I think they did a fine job. They hit great areas and didn’t let the Zimbabwe openers get off to a quick start.”
India had gone into his match with a young bowling attack as the frontline bowlers have been rested for this series.