Virat Kohli hits 30th ODI century, joint second highest in cricket history

Virat Kohli, Indian cricket team captain, reached triple figures in the fifth and final match against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium, his second consecutive century after scoring a match-winning 131 in the fourth ODI three days earlier

Virat Kohli struck his 30th One-day International century on Sunday, becoming the joint second-highest in the list of century-makers. (India vs Sri Lanka - 5th ODI: HIGHLIGHTS)

Virat Kohli, Indian cricket team captain, raises his bat after scoring a century against Sri Lanka in Colombo.(AP)

The India skipper reached triple figures in the fifth and final match against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium, his second consecutive century after scoring a match-winning 131 in the fourth ODI three days earlier. (India vs Sri Lanka - 5th ODI: SCORECARD)

The 28-year-old batsman’s knock put him level with former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, who also has 30 centuries. Out of his hundreds, Virat Kohli’s 16 centuries had come in a winning cause before Sunday.

Virat Kohli can next take aim at the record of Sachin Tendulkar, which is at some distance. Sachin Tendulkar scored 49 ODI centuries.

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Kohli hit spinner Akila Dananjaya to point for a single in the 43rd over to complete his century. He faced 107 balls and hit eight fours. India were 223 chasing 239 for victory.

The century carried Virat Kohli to the top of the run-scoring charts in the series. Virat Kohli, on 100, notched up a series aggregate of 320. India opener Rohit Sharma, who also scored two centuries in this series, finished with an aggregate of 302.

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Virat Kohli also became the first batsman to complete 1,000 runs in the format when he reached 93.

The India skipper was already the highest ODI run-getter for 2017 going into the match.