• Home
  • Player Stories
  • When Virat Kohli Fired A 61 Ball Century To Pull Off Magical 350 Run Chase Vs Australia

When Virat Kohli fired a 61-ball century to pull off magical 350 run chase vs Australia

Aakash Saini

Virat Kohli celebrating his 17th ODI century [Source: @Arnavv43/x]Virat Kohli celebrating his 17th ODI century [Source: @Arnavv43/x]

There are cricketers who crumble under the weight of a towering chase, and then there are those who seem to draw power from it. For the latter, the pressure of the roaring crowds and ticking overs tends to become a personal stage rather than a burden. India’s all-format great and batting behemoth Virat Kohli firmly belongs in this rare breed.

Among the 51 centuries he has plundered so far in ODIs, including 28 in run-chases, very few could summarize his chasing genius like his 2013 epic against Australia, a 61-ball thunderstorm in Nagpur where Virat Kohli made light work of the visitor’s grand 350-run total.

Century number 17, and a chase of 351 to level series

Back in October 2013 during the sixth ODI of the seven-match series between Australia and hosts India, the visitors amassed 350-6 from 50 overs upfront courtesy of a herculean 156 off 114 balls from then captain George Bailey. Shane Watson at number three also punched out a swift century to take the attack to the Indian bowlers.

Chasing 351 in a bid to level the series and to enforce a decider, centurion Shikhar Dhawan and half-centurion Rohit Sharma laid a commanding 178-run foundation in just 29.3 overs. Still left to finish the job, Virat Kohli walked in at number three with his trademark intent and transformed the chase into a spectacle, unleashing a flurry of crisp strokes that reduced a monumental target into mere formality.

The legendary Indian batter tonked a 61-ball century against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, James Faulkner and others, clattering 18 boundaries and a six in the process at the VCA Stadium during his thunderous knock of 115* from just 66 balls.

Kohli’s innings not only helped Team India mow down Australia’s 350 with six wickets and three balls to spare to level the series, it also entered India’s expansive cricketing folklore as the third fastest century by any ‘Men in Blue’ batter in ODI history.

Moreover, the feat also occurred just a couple of weeks after Virat Kohli himself shaped India’s fastest ODI century ever with his 52-ball whirlwind in Jaipur earlier in the same series against the same opponents.