In Stats: Virat Kohli’s Solid 153 in Centurion Is One For The Ages

Virat Kohli became the second Indian cricketer to score two centuries in South Africa, the first was Sachin.

From an Indian perspective, Virat Kohli perhaps played India’s first innings of substance on the ongoing tour of South Africa. With his team trailing 1-0 in the series, the Indian captain himself coming for severe criticism for his not-so-popular team selections and after the top order did not provide the returns expected of them, the captain took control of proceedings and took the team close to South Africa’s first innings total.

Virat’s innings, which began on Sunday and continued on to Monday, was not just about the runs or the time he spent at the crease. It was a statement.

It will be recorded in history as among the finest knocks played by a visiting batsman in the Rainbow Nation. He walked in to bat in the tenth over with the scoreboard reading 28-2, consumed in excess of 36 overs all by himself, and left the arena last man out. Kohli’s 153 at the Centurion Park was the first century of the series, and courtesy his terrific innings India finished at 307 – 28 runs short of the home team’s first innings total.

Virat Kohli walked out to bat midway through the second session on Day II; this, after KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara were dismissed off successive deliveries. At that time, the Indian dressing room would have certainly felt the pressure. But every time the South African bowlers error in length – even by the smallest margins – Kohli converted them to boundaries. The early signs that Kohli was in the zone came when Morne Morkel was driven for consecutive boundaries – one through cover and one straight down the ground. And so the epic began.

There were several interesting and appreciable aspects in Virat’s knock. There was intent writ large on his face and that he meant business was evident in his body language. He was in control of proceedings for most part, there was match awareness, and of course his driving was pleasing to the eye. Overall, Kohli’s degree of control was in excess of 85% - meaning he middled or left alone judiciously.

Kohli displayed good situation awareness too. He was quick to get off the blocks – racing to 16 in 9 balls – to ensure the fielding side did not heap more pressure after picking up the two quick wickets. His aggressive intent early on can be established from the fact that he contributed 35 of the first 50 runs that he and Murali Vijay added for the third wicket. Once he was in, he had set his sights for the long haul; in the final session, he collected runs without being adventurous.

On the morning of Day III, the match hung in the balance. After South Africa clinched early advantage – courtesy Hardik Pandya’s schoolboy error – the responsibility once again fell on Virat’s shoulders, for he was the last specialist batsman at the crease and there were only the bowlers to follow. At that stage, India were 126 runs in deficit. Ravichandran Ashwin walked out to bat at number eight, pounced on the width offered by the South African bowlers and collected a few boundaries early on. Virat read the situation that the rub of the green was with Ashwin during that period of play and allowed him to dominate proceedings; off the first 50 runs the seventh wicket pair added, Ashwin had contributed 32 off 41 balls, while Virat had contributed 17 off 21 balls.

But once Ashwin slowed down, Virat stepped on the accelerator and ensured the scoring rate did not drop. The seventh wicket pair added 71 runs in 14.2 overs – which is among India’s quickest partnerships in Test matches in South Africa.

In the latter part of the morning session on Day III, Virat scored 36 off 34 balls and inched closer to 150. This even as the Indian captain held firm at one end while wickets fell at the other end; when players left the field for lunch, Virat was 141 and he had the company of Ishant Sharma, with only Jasprit Bumrah left to bat.

Post-lunch, Virat farmed the strike well and brought up his 150 with a boundary off Morne Morkel. A few overs later, he picked the leg-stump half-volley, but hit it straight down the throat of AB de Villiers at long-on to be dismissed for 153.