Virat Kohli's lone warrior act went in vain as Steve Smith's Australia recorded a famous win over Team India in the third and final One Day International (ODI) of the recently concluded bilateral series on Wednesday. Former Indian skipper Kohli top-scored for Rohit Sharma's men in the series decider between India and Australia at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. Kohli also surpassed batting legends Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara with his fighting knock against Australia in the series decider.
The former Indian skipper played a gritty knock of 54 off 72 balls in the 3rd ODI between the top-ranked teams. Kohli's crucial knock paved the way for the former India captain to eclipse Ponting on an elite list. The 34-year-old has upstaged Ponting by becoming the batter with the second-most runs in the 50-over format at home. Kohli has scored 5447 runs in 110 matches at home while former Australian skipper Ponting accumulated 5406 runs in 153 games. Kohli is only behind Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar on the special list. Former India captain Tendulkar smashed 6,976 runs in 164 matches at home.
Kohli also matched Desmond Haynes's feat as the star batter became the joint-third batter to register the most 50-plus scores against Australia in ODIs. Kohli managed to overtake Lara's tally of 18 half-centuries by registering his 19 fifty against Australia in the 50-over format. West Indies icon Haynes also slammed 19 half-centuries against Australia in ODIs. Only batting legends Tendulkar (24) and Vivian Richards (23) have notched up more half-centuries against Australia than Kohli in the 50-over format.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli also matched Desmond Haynes's feat as the star batter became the joint-third batter to register the most 50-plus scores against Australia in ODIs. Kohli managed to overtake Lara's tally of 18 half-centuries by registering his 19 fifty against Australia in the 50-over format. West Indies icon Haynes also slammed 19 half-centuries against Australia in ODIs. Only batting legends Tendulkar (24) and Vivian Richards (23) have notched up more half-centuries against Australia than Kohli in the 50-over format.
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, Kohli also zoomed past Jacques Kallis by securing the second spot on the list of batters with the most 50-plus scores at home. Kohli has registered 50-plus scores 47 times in his glittering ODI career at home. Kallis had achieved the same feat 46 times in his iconic career for South Africa. Batting maestro Tendulkar holds the record of registering the most number of 50-plus scores (58) at home in ODIs.
Averaging over 57, veteran batter Kohli has amassed 12,898 runs in 274 ODIs for Team India. Talking about the match, Kohli was dismissed by spinner Ashton Agar, who also handed Suryakumar Yadav his third-straight golden duck of the series in the same over. Agar shared six wickets with spinner Adam Zampa as Team India bowled out for 248 to lose the 3rd ODI by 21 runs. With the impressive win over Rohit's men, Australia sealed the ODI series 2-1 at Chennai.