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[Saba Sports News] Virat Kohli, named Player of the Match, delivered a superb century during ICC Cricket World Cup 2023’s 37th match against South Africa in Kolkata. Kohli’s brilliant 101* (121) helped India amass a commanding total of 326/5 in their allotted 50 overs, securing a 243-run victory.
After the game, Kohli, celebrating his 35th birthday, posed with Eden Gardens’ ground staff, sharing a moment of appreciation for his historic achievement of equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most ODI centuries (49).
Kohli also climbed to the second-highest run-scorer position in the tournament with 543 runs from eight innings at an average of 108.60, featuring two centuries and four fifties. He now ranks third on the list of leading run-scorers in ODI World Cup history, behind Ricky Ponting (1743 runs) and Sachin Tendulkar (2278 runs).
In the match, besides Kohli, Shreyas Iyer contributed with a half-century (77 off 87), forming a substantial 134-run partnership for the third wicket. Suryakumar Yadav (22 off 14) and Ravindra Jadeja (29* off 15) provided the finishing touches as India reached 326/5 in 50 overs.
In the second innings, South Africa struggled as they lost key wickets early on.
Ravindra Jadeja claimed five wickets, and Mohammed Shami also made vital breakthroughs. South Africa was bowled out for 83 runs in 27.1 overs, resulting in a 243-run loss for them.