Virat Kohli, the standout batsman, described his achievement as “the stuff of dreams” after India defeated South Africa by just 83 runs on Sunday, matching Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 one-day international hundreds.
At Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, on his 35th birthday, Kohli reached the milestone in 119 balls with 10 fours.
“It’s a huge honour to equal my hero’s record. He’s perfection with the bat. It’s an emotional moment,” said Kohli.
It had taken him 277 innings to score 49 hundreds at this level compared to the 438 required by fellow India 2011 World Cup-winner Tendulkar.
Kohli’s 101 not out was the centrepiece of India’s 326-5 before their powerful attack cleaned up as Rohit Sharma’s men made it eight wins out of eight at the tournament.
Together with Shreyas Iyer (77) he shared a third-wicket partnership of 134 after India captain Rohit had won the toss.
India, fresh from dismissing Sri Lanka for just 55 during a 302-run rout of the 1996 champions, sparked another collapse as South Africa were dismissed for 83.
It was the Proteas’ lowest-ever World Cup score and their second-lowest ODI total, behind their 69 against Australia in Sydney in 1993.
The majority of the damage was caused by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who finished with a 5-33 total. India is now guaranteed to win the pool stage, while Marco Jansen, a lower-order batsman for South Africa, scored the highest score of the innings with 14.
Similar to India, South Africa had already secured their place in the semi-final.
This was South Africa’s second pool loss after an unexpected loss to the Netherlands, a non-Test playing nation, and the difference between the top two teams on Sunday was almost as surprising as that result.
Kohli, now averaging more than 108 in the World Cup, said during the innings break: “Every opportunity to play for India is a big one, to be able to ton up on my birthday is the stuff of dreams. It is something you dream about as a child.”
