NEW DELHI: Star Indian batter Virat Kohli once again proved his mettle under pressure with a match-winning knock against Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy, guiding India to a comfortable victory in Dubai.
Chasing 265 on a tricky surface, India was in trouble at 43/2, but Kohli anchored the innings with a crucial 84 off 98 balls at a strike rate of 85.71, including five fours. While he eventually fell to Adam Zampa for the sixth time in ODIs, he played a pivotal role, forming key partnerships with Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, and KL Rahul.
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Earlier, Australia opted to bat and posted the tournament’s highest total of 264 all out at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with skipper Steve Smith scoring 73 and Alex Carey adding 61. Despite losing Kohli in the closing overs, India comfortably reached the target with KL Rahul’s unbeaten 42, sealing the win with 11 balls to spare.
Kohli’s knock marked yet another milestone in his illustrious career. He now holds the record for the most 50-plus scores (24) in ICC ODI tournaments in just 53 innings, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 23 in 58 innings.
In ICC ODI tournaments, Kohli has amassed 2,541 runs at an average of 65.15, including six centuries and 18 fifties, second only to Tendulkar’s 2,719 runs.
Additionally, Kohli became the first player to score 1,000 runs in ICC tournament knockout matches across all formats, including the Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, World Test Championship, and Champions Trophy.
Across these matches, he has accumulated 1,023 runs at an average of 53.84, with one century and nine fifties, his highest being 117 in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
Kohli is now India’s highest run-scorer in Champions Trophy history and the tournament’s second-highest overall. In 17 matches, he has amassed 746 runs at an average of 82.88, including a century and six fifties. His best score of 100* came against Pakistan in this edition. Only Chris Gayle (791 runs) has scored more in the competition’s history.
The veteran batter also became just the second player after Tendulkar to complete 8,000 runs in ODI run-chases. Among the 237 players with at least 1,000 runs in chases, Kohli remains the only one averaging over 60.
In 170 ODIs while chasing, he has scored 8,063 runs in 159 innings at an average of 64.50, with 28 centuries and 41 fifties, his highest being 183.
STATS
24 - Virat Kohli now has 24 fifty-plus scores at ICC ODI events (World Cups and Champions Trophies), the most by any batter, going past legendary Sachin Tendulkar's 23
7 - Kohli has seven fifty-plus scores in the Champions Trophy, the most by any batter, going past Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Shikhar Dhawan, who all have six such scores
3 - Kohli has scored a fifty in all three Champions Trophy semi-finals that he's played, all while chasing. He scored 58* against Sri Lanka in 2013, 96* against Bangladesh in 2017 and 84 against Australia on Tuesday
5 - Kohli and Steve Smith have five fifty-plus scores in knockout matches of ICC ODI events (World Cups and Champions Trophies), behind only Sachin Tendulkar (6)
