Star India batter Virat Kohli once again produced a dominant show with the bat in the second ODI against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Despite losing Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan in quick succession, the former India captain managed to keep the scoreboard ticking, hitting his 78th half-century in the process. The veteran departed scoring 65 runs off 66 balls as he set the tone for the middle order batters to take over.
Now, courtesy of his half-century, Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most 50+ scores by an Indian cricketer against England. He now tops the list with 33 50+ scores, beating Tendulkar’s 32. Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Sunil Gavaskar also feature in the top five.
Most 50+ scores for India against England:
| Player | Most 50+ scores |
| Virat Kohli | 33 |
| Sachin tendulkar | 32 |
| Rahul Dravid | 26 |
| MS Dhoni | 24 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 23 |
Kohli crosses Ponting
Kohli has surpassed Ricky Ponting to become the fifth-most-capped player in international cricket history. Only Tendulkar, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya are ahead of him on the table.
Most international matches:
| Player | Most international matches |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 664 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | 652 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 594 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 586 |
| Virat Kohli | 561 |
| Ricky Ponting | 560 |
| MS Dhoni | 538 |
India’s lower middle order flops
Kohli and Shreyas Iyer stitched a valuable partnership of 67 runs. After the 37-year-old departed, Shreyas took over the business and played some brilliant cricket, but he had little to no support from the other batters. Washington Sundar departed scoring two, while Axar Patel made one and Shivam Dube registered a golden duck.
The pressure fell on Iyer, who bailed India out of trouble. The T20I captain scored a half-century and India managed to cross the 200-run mark. He eventually departed for 66 runs off 71 balls as India were reduced to nine wickets for 233 runs. The final wicket fell soon after that as England now have 234 runs to chase.
Notably, India were 178/3 at one stage and were cruising towards 300, but England’s quick turnaround changed the complexion of the team, as the hosts look favourite now.
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