Asia Cup: Ton of weight off Virat Kohli's shoulders as he scores first century in almost three years

Dubai, September 8

Virat Kohli struck his first century in almost three years as he scored a memorable 122 against Afghanistan in an inconsequential Asia Cup match here today. Kohli reached the elusive three-figure mark after 1020 days to set up India’s massive 101-run win.

Kohli’s first hundred since November 2019 took his tally to 71st international centuries. He is now level with Ricky Ponting, and only behind Sachin Tendulkar. It was also Kohli’s maiden ton in the shortest format.

The 61-ball innings, with 12 fours and 6 sixes, helped India to 212/2 against Afghanistan. After Rohit Sharma was rested for the game, Kohli opened the innings with stand-in skipper KL Rahul (62 off 41) and the duo shared an entertaining partnership of 119 off 76 balls.

Afghanistan were then blown away by a top-class spell of swing bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who ended up with career-best figures of five wickets for four runs in 24 balls, including 20 dot deliveries.

Bhuvneshwar got the ball to move both ways, leaving the opposition struggling at 21/6. Their innings ended at 111/8.

However, the night belonged to Kohli, who later said he “batted out of my skin”. “Today was the build-up of the last few games, I batted out of my skin to be honest and I surprised myself,” he said. “What surprised me was my 60s became failures,” he added.

Kohli said he didn’t expect to get the elusive century in the T20 format. “Last two and a half years have taught me a lot. I am going to turn 34 in a month. So those angry celebrations are a thing of the past,” he said. “Actually I was shocked. This is the last format I thought... It was an accumulation of a lot of things. The team has been open and helpful.”

Brief scores: India: 212/2 (Kohli 122*, Rahul 62); Afghanistan: 111/8 (Ibrahim 64*; Bhuvneshwar 5/4). — PTI

Bhuvi magic

5 Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling figures of five wickets for four runs were the third-best by an Indian in the T20Is. It was Bhuvneshwar’s second, and India’s fifth, five-wicket haul in the format.

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