Sri Lanka’s veteran speedster Lasith Malinga has finally entered the 300 wickets club in One Day Internationals (ODIs). During the fourth India vs Sri Lanka ODI of the bilateral series at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Malinga dismissed set batsman Virat Kohli in the 30th over. Kohli, who was gradually moving ahead towards his maiden double ton, ended up scoring 131 runs off 96 balls. Though Kohli timed the ball very well towards the sweeper cover, Munaweera was already present there taking an easy catch to dismiss the Indian captain.
Earlier today, India won the toss and elected to bat first. For the first time in this ongoing ODI series, Kohli elected to bat first after winning the toss. Team India faced an early blow as opener Shikhar Dhawan went back to the pavilion after scoring a mere 4 runs. The team was reduced to 7/1, Kohli came on the field and started taking on the bowlers right from the beginning. He hit 3 consecutive fours to Vishwa Fernando in the 4th over and similarly other Sri Lankan bowlers as well.
In the 24th over, he reached his 29th ODI century in just 76 balls. With this magnificent hundred, he surpassed Proteas batsman Faf du Plessis to become the leading run scorer in the 50-over format for the year 2017. His new numbers now stand as— 17 matches 869 runs at a strike rate of over 100. The 28-year old Indian skipper has already scored three centuries and six fifties.
ODI wicket #100: @Martyguptill
ODI wicket #200: @msdhoni
ODI wicket #300: @imVkohliLasith Malinga reaches his milestones in style! pic.twitter.com/IQdlB8VpmB
— ICC (@ICC) August 31, 2017
The Indian skipper continuously got the support from opener Rohit Sharma who was at the other end. Kohli’s style of batting pumped enough confidence in him that he also scored his 33rd ODI fifty. Kohli’s inning of 131 runs off 96 balls is the highest by any Indian captain against Sri Lanka.
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