India captain Virat Kohli capped a remarkable ODI series against South Africa by smashing his 35th ODI century, becoming the fastest to 17,000 international runs and taking his 100th ODI catch as India sealed a comprehensive 5-1 series win in Port Elizabeth.
Chasing 204 for victory, India were never in trouble as captain Kohli again led the way with a sublime 129 of 96 deliveries as the visitors reached the target in 32.1 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Kohli hit 19 boundaries and two sixes during his knock and was given good support by Ajinkya Rahane who remained not out on 34.
It was another record-breaking day for Kohli in his 200th ODI innings as he also completed 500 runs in the series and 800 runs on the South African tour. Kohli thus became the first cricketer to score 500 runs in bilateral ODI series in history.
Kohli reached a major milestone as he completed 17,000 international runs in 363 innings, breaking South African Hashim Amla’s record of 381 innings.
India opener Rohit Sharma’s recipe for success: run Virat Kohli out
The South Africans got the wicket of Rohit Sharma, centurion in the previous game, for 15 and fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan for 18 on Friday. But Kohli put his foot down and batted South Africa out of the match on a pitch that was far from conducive for strokeplay.
Earlier, pacer Shardul Thakur took advantage of his only start of the series as India maintained their dominance over South Africa.
Thakur took 4-52 as South Africa were bowled out for 204 at SuperSport Park.
Despite India holding a series-winning 4-1 lead, Thakur was the only change to a winning combination, replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The Mumbai fast bowler, in only his third international appearance, dismissed both South African openers – Amla and Aiden Markram – inside the first ten overs.
This is Virat Kohli's 30th century in ODIs in a winning cause. Only Sachin Tendulkar (33) has more. Kohli has not played even half of the matches Tendulkar played. #RSAvInd
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) February 16, 2018
He followed up with the wicket of Farhaan Behardien in the middle overs before finishing the innings by catching Andile Phehlukwayo off his own bowling.
Khaya Zondo, like Thakur playing in his third international match, top-scored for South Africa with 54 off 74 balls. It was only the fourth score of 50 or more for the hosts in a series in which their top batsmen have failed to fire.
Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal took their wicket tallies for the series to 17 and 16 respectively, although Yadav took only one wicket and Chahal claimed two on Friday.
Chahal claimed the key wicket of AB de Villiers, bowling South Africa’s star batsman for 30 with a flipper when De Villiers shaped to cut.
