Virat Kohli half-centuries in ODI: The former Indian captain failed to convert his half-century into a century at the Boland Park today.
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During the first ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of South Africa in Paarl, former India captain Virat Kohli scored his 63rd ODI half-century but continued to remain away from an elusive international century.
Playing an ODI as a specialist batter for the first time since 2016, Kohli batted at his usual No. 3 position scoring an assured 51 (63) with the help of three fours.
Kohli, who shared a 92-run partnership for the second wicket alongside opening batter Shikhar Dhawan (79), was his regular comfortable self while batting in the middle. It was on the fourth delivery of the 28th over that Kohli ran a single off South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj to complete a half-century.
So much control and precision in @imVkohli batting today. Wish he gets that 100. And wins the game for India. Exactly what he needs. And India needs from him #INDvsSA
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) January 19, 2022
Having rarely played a false shot at the Boland Park today, Kohli had increased his fans’ expectation around seeing him score an ODI century after more than two years. However, Kohli’s attempt of forcing a sweep against South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi saw him giving a straightforward catch to South Africa captain Temba Bavuma.
It is worth mentioning that Kohli’s last international century had come against Bangladesh in India’s inaugural pink-ball Test match at the Eden Gardens in November 2019. As far as Kohli’s last ODI century is concerned, it had come against West Indies during India’s tour of West Indies in August 2019 at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Virat Kohli half-centuries in ODI (only table updated on March 22, 2023)
In what was Kohli’s seventh ODI half-century against South Africa, it was his fifth in South Africa, 24th away from home, 36th as a specialist batter and 53rd at No. 3.
| Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| 54 | 66 | 7 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Colombo | 2008 |
| 79* | 104 | 9 | 2 | West Indies | Johannesburg | 2009 |
| 54 | 65 | 7 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Nagpur | 2009 |
| 91 | 102 | 7 | 0 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2010 |
| 71* | 68 | 9 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Dhaka | 2010 |
| 57 | 71 | 4 | 1 | South Africa | Ahmedabad | 2010 |
| 82 | 92 | 4 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Bulawayo | 2010 |
| 68 | 95 | 5 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Harare | 2010 |
| 64 | 73 | 8 | 0 | New Zealand | Jaipur | 2010 |
| 63* | 70 | 6 | 2 | New Zealand | Vadodara | 2010 |
| 54 | 70 | 2 | 1 | South Africa | Durban | 2011 |
| 87* | 92 | 7 | 2 | South Africa | Port Elizabeth | 2011 |
| 59 | 76 | 5 | 0 | West Indies | Chennai | 2011 |
| 81 | 103 | 6 | 1 | West Indies | Port of Spain | 2011 |
| 94 | 104 | 10 | 0 | West Indies | Kingston | 2011 |
| 55 | 73 | 4 | 0 | England | Chester-le-Street | 2011 |
| 86* | 99 | 11 | 0 | England | Mumbai | 2011 |
| 80 | 85 | 5 | 0 | West Indies | Chennai | 2011 |
| 77 | 94 | 8 | 1 | Sri Lanka | Perth | 2012 |
| 66 | 83 | 2 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Brisbane | 2012 |
| 66 | 82 | 5 | 0 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2012 |
| 77* | 79 | 9 | 2 | England | Ranchi | 2013 |
| 58* | 64 | 4 | 1 | Sri Lanka | Cardiff | 2013 |
| 68* | 88 | 5 | 1 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2013 |
| 61 | 85 | 6 | 0 | Australia | Pune | 2013 |
| 68 | 73 | 9 | 0 | Australia | Mohali | 2013 |
| 86 | 84 | 9 | 2 | West Indies | Kochi | 2013 |
| 99 | 100 | 9 | 0 | West Indies | Vishakhapatnam | 2013 |
| 78 | 65 | 7 | 2 | New Zealand | Hamilton | 2014 |
| 82 | 78 | 7 | 3 | New Zealand | Wellington | 2014 |
| 62 | 78 | 5 | 0 | West Indies | Delhi | 2014 |
| 53 | 61 | 4 | 1 | Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | 2014 |
| 66 | 64 | 6 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Kolkata | 2014 |
| 77 | 99 | 5 | 0 | South Africa | Rajkot | 2015 |
| 91 | 97 | 9 | 1 | Australia | Perth | 2016 |
| 59 | 67 | 4 | 0 | Australia | Brisbane | 2016 |
| 85* | 81 | 9 | 1 | New Zealand | Dharamsala | 2016 |
| 65 | 76 | 2 | 1 | New Zealand | Vishakhapatnam | 2016 |
| 55 | 63 | 8 | 0 | England | Kolkata | 2017 |
| 81* | 68 | 6 | 3 | Pakistan | Birmingham | 2017 |
| 76* | 101 | 7 | 1 | South Africa | The Oval | 2017 |
| 96* | 78 | 13 | 0 | Bangladesh | Birmingham | 2017 |
| 82* | 70 | 10 | 1 | Sri Lanka | Dambulla | 2017 |
| 92 | 107 | 8 | 0 | Australia | Kolkata | 2017 |
| 75 | 83 | 7 | 1 | South Africa | Johannesburg | 2018 |
| 75 | 82 | 7 | 0 | England | Nottingham | 2018 |
| 71 | 72 | 8 | 0 | England | Leeds | 2018 |
| 60 | 74 | 6 | 1 | New Zealand | Mount Maunganui | 2019 |
| 82 | 77 | 4 | 2 | Australia | The Oval | 2019 |
| 77 | 65 | 7 | 0 | Pakistan | Manchester | 2019 |
| 67 | 63 | 5 | 0 | Afghanistan | Southampton | 2019 |
| 72 | 82 | 8 | 0 | West Indies | Manchester | 2019 |
| 66 | 76 | 7 | 0 | England | Birmingham | 2019 |
| 85 | 81 | 9 | 0 | West Indies | Cuttack | 2019 |
| 78 | 76 | 6 | 0 | Australia | Rajkot | 2020 |
| 89 | 91 | 8 | 0 | Australia | Bengaluru | 2020 |
| 51 | 63 | 6 | 0 | New Zealand | Hamilton | 2020 |
| 89 | 87 | 7 | 2 | Australia | Sydney | 2020 |
| 63 | 78 | 5 | 0 | Australia | Canberra | 2020 |
| 56 | 60 | 6 | 0 | England | Pune | 2021 |
| 66 | 79 | 3 | 1 | England | Pune | 2021 |
| 51 | 63 | 3 | 0 | South Africa | Paarl | 2022 |
| 65 | 84 | 5 | 0 | South Africa | Cape Town | 2022 |
| 54 | 72 | 2 | 1 | Australia | Chennai | 2023 |
