Virat Kohli on Tuesday produced batting of the highestcalibreas he hammered an unbeaten 77 off 46 deliveriesto help India post a competitive target of 156-6 in 20 overs in the third T20I against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With the cracking half-century, KohliequalledNew Zealand captain Kane Williamson's recordof scoringthemostnumber of half-centuries by a captain in T20Icricket.
Both Kohli and Williamson now have 11 fifties as captain of their respective sides in the shortest format of the game. In total, Kohli has now scored 27 T20I half-centuries.
After a tricky start, where India lost a few quick wickets up front in the third T20I, Kohli brought his A-game on the field as he recorded his second T20I half-century on the bounce.Notably, Kohli hit 49 runs in his last 17 balls in what can be called as breathtaking knock by the Indian skipper.
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Kohli now has been part of 10 instances of scoring two consecutive 50+ scores in T20Is. The likes of Chris Gayle, Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum have scoredback-to-backhalf-centuries in T20Is only six times.
It was also the first time since T20 World Cup in 2016 that Kohli smashed back-to-back half-centuries in T20Is. The Indian skipper had scored 73not-outoff49deliveriesin thesecond T20I against England which India won by seven wickets.
Indiawerereeling at 87 for 5 at the end of the 15th over but they ended up with 156on the scoreboard courtesy the master knock by Kohli.
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“We want to work on setting targets as well, in preparation for the future. England is going to come out hard, and we have to bring our A-game. Crowds are important, but we have to be professional and go out and give it our best in whatever conditions we have been given,” Kohli said at the toss.