India vs Afghanistan, Match 5 Super 4 Asia Cup 2022, Stats Review: Virat Kohli shatters a flurry of records, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s feats, and other stats

Virat Kohli’s maiden T20I century and his 71^st in international cricket tore apart Afghanistan as India registered a massive victory by 101 runs against them in Match 5 of the Asia Cup Super 4 round in Dubai. Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar also joined the party as he dismantled Mohammad Nabi’s side with figures of 5/4 in his four-over spell which also included a maiden. Kohli also recorded the highest individual score of 122* for India in T20 internationals.

Speaking about how the dead rubber panned out, skipper Nabi won the toss and opted to field first against India minus Rohit Sharma, who got rested. Stand-in captain KL Rahul struck 62 off 41 but it was all about the run-machine Kohli then. He hammered 12 fours and six maximums as the wait for his 71st international ton finally got over. After over 1000 days, the classy right-handed batter reached the three-figure mark in international cricket. His highest-ever score in all T20 matches helped India in reaching a mammoth total of 212/2 in 20 overs.

Chasing 213, Bhuvneshwar wreaked havoc for the Afghans as he just single-handedly destroyed their batting line-up. Afghanistan found themselves at 21/6 in just 6.5 overs courtesy of Bhuvneshwar’s masterclass seam bowling. Ibrahim Zadran fought like a lone warrior as he remained unbeaten on 64 off 59. Arshdeep Singh, R Ashwin, and Deepak Hooda all took one wicket each with Afghanistan finishing their innings on 111/8. For his most-awaited and celebratory century, Virat Kohli was named the Player of the Match.

 Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Match 5 in the Super 4 round between India and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022:

1 – Virat Kohli registered his maiden T20I century in his 96th innings.

71 – Kohli is now tied with Ricky Ponting on the second spot for smashing the most hundred (71) in international cricket. Sachin Tendulkar tops the chart with 100 centuries.

5/4 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar achieved his best bowling figures of 5/4 in T20 internationals. His previous best of 5/24 came against South Africa in the year 2018.

122* - Kohli recorded his highest score of 122* in all T20 matches. His previous highest of 113 came against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League in 2016.

84 – Bhuvneshwar has now taken the most wickets (84) for India in T20Is. He surpassed Yuzvendra Chahal’s tally of 83 scalps.

2 – India registered their second-largest victory in terms of runs (101). Their biggest win by a margin of 143 runs came against Ireland in 2018.

3 – Seam bowler Bhuvneshwar scripted the third-best T20I figures of 5/4 for India. Deepak Chahar’s 6/7 against Bangladesh in 2019 and Chahal’s spell of 6/25 against England in 2017 are in the top two positions.

104 – Kohli also reached the landmark of 100 maximums in T20I cricket.

43 – Pacer Bhuvneshwar has now taken the joint-most wickets (43) with Tim Southee in the first six overs in T20 internationals.

122* - Kohli recorded the highest individual score of 122* for India in the format. The previous best of 118 was by Rohit Sharma against Sri Lanka in 2017.

2 – Afghanistan suffered their second-largest defeat in terms of runs (101). Their biggest loss by a margin of 116 runs was against England in Colombo (RPS) in the year 2012.

4 - Bhuvneshwar has now conceded the least runs (5/4) amongst the bowlers from full-members who bowled four overs in a T20I innings.

3584 – Kohli completed 3500 runs in the T20I matches. He became the second batter after Rohit Sharma (3620) to achieve the feat.

1 – Bhuvneshwar became the first bowler to bag a five-wicket haul against Afghanistan in the shortest international format.

3 – Fareed Ahmad conceded the third-most runs (2/57) for Afghanistan in an innings. Shapoor Zadran (1/60) against Ireland in 2017 and Naveen-ul-Haq (0/59) against India in 2021 are in the top two.

4 – With four centuries, Kohli is now tied with Kumar Sangakkara in the second position for slamming most tons (4) in Asia Cups (ODI & T20). Sanath Jayasuriya is on top for hitting six centuries.

50 – Dinesh Karthik appeared in his 50^th T20 international.

10 - India have now registered 10 individual centuries which is the most by any team in T20I cricket. New Zealand are on second with nine hundred. 

33 - Kohli has now smashed the most 50-plus scores (33) in T20Is. He went past his skipper Rohit Sharma’s tally of 32 such scores.