Virat Kohli's 135 powers India to 349-8 in first South Africa ODI
- Last updated: November 30, 2025 | 16:55 ..
Star batsman Virat Kohli struck an attacking 135 to power India to 349-8 against South Africa in the first of three One-Day Internationals (ODI) on Sunday.
Kohli's 120-ball knock and his 136-run stand for the second wicket with fellow stalwart Rohit Sharma (57) steered India to a challenging total in Ranchi.
The 37-year-old struck a boundary off Marco Jansen to raise his 52nd ODI century and lifted his bat to a raucous home crowd.
An Indian fan breached security and raced to the pitch to touch Kohli's feet before he was dragged away.
Kohli has the most ODI hundreds, with Indian great Sachin Tendulkar second with 49.
He and 38-year-old Rohit returned to the ODI team after retiring from T20 and Test cricket.
Their presence boosted India, led by KL Rahul in the absence of the injured Shubman Gill, after a 2-0 Test whitewash against South Africa.
Rohit lost fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal early for 18 but Kohli walked in to a huge roar from a 38,000-strong capacity crowd.
They pair steadied the innings and then took on the bowlers before Rohit was trapped lbw by Jansen.
He hit five fours and three sixes in his 51-ball knock.
India lost a couple more wickets but Kohli stood firm, even though South Africa put the brakes on the scoring in the middle overs.
Kohli switched gears soon after reaching his first hundred since February and hit off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen for two fours and two sixes in a 21-run 39th over.
He finally fell to Nandre Burger, caught by Ryan Rickelton, after hitting 11 fours and seven sixes.
Rahul kept up the attack with 60 off 56 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja made 32 off 20.
Aiden Markram is standing in as captain after Temba Bavuma was rested in the opener.
Earlier, South Africa won the toss and elected to field in the first ODI match against India on Sunday.
India, which lost its 19th consecutive toss, will be led by Lokesh Rahul in the absence of injured Shubman Gill and also includes white-ball stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
South Africa stand-in captain Aiden Markram said he expected dew later in the night which encouraged him to field first after winning the toss.
The Proteas have rested regular skipper Temba Bavuma and left-arm spinner Keshav Mahraj for the opening game of the three-match series after both played in South Africa's 2-0 victory in the test series against India.
Prenelan Subrayen is the only specialist spinner in the playing XI as the visitors chose to go with four seamers to challenge the strong Indian batting line-up.
Rahul said he would have bowled too had he won the toss after he saw dew during the evening practice sessions at the ground.
India has opted to go with three spinners — Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav — with Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana as three quick bowlers.
Line-ups:
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, Lokesh Rahul (captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock, 4 Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman ____
Agencies