Twitter applauds Virat Kohli on his record 31st ton

Virat Kohli smashed one of his best centuries in Wankhede against New Zealand in the first ODI in Mumbai on Sunday. The skipper celebrated his landmark 200th One-Day International with a stupendous knock and helped India post a competitive total on the board. The social media went berserk when Kohli raised his bat to soak in the applause from the crowd. The Indian maestro went past Ricky Ponting and scored his record 31st ton. He is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar who has scored a humongous 49 centuries in ODI cricket.

After opting to bat first, Virat Kohli came into the middle after an early wicket and weathered an excellent new-ball spell from Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Soon he got his straps going and started scoring runs at will in the humid conditions. He soaked in all the pressure as the other batsmen struggled completely to time the ball and reached a ton. He was dismissed in the final over by Southee on 121 off 125 and his innings was studded with 9 fours and a couple of magnificent sixes.

India post a competitive 280 on the board

Everyone expected India to rack up the runs after opting to bat on a flat deck at Wankhede. But Boult bowled beautifully as the openers were sent back to the hut early by him. Soon Kedar Jadhav followed the suit and the hosts were in a spot of bother. Dinesh Karthik and Kohli though made sure there were no further hiccups and started rotating the strike. New Zealand bowled well in the middle overs too to keep a lid on the scoring. The pressure piled up and Karthik gave away his wicket on 37.

Dhoni looked fluent but Boult snaffled him and showed his prowess again. Though the wickets were falling all around him, Kohli slammed one of his class centuries in demanding conditions and led from the front for his side. It was only due to him that the hosts could post a total of 280/8 which looked competitive on a track which is getting slower. For the visitors, Boult was the pick of the bowlers and returned with the figures of 4/35 and Southee assisted him well with a three-fer.

Here is how Twitter erupted after Kohli brought up yet another century: