Record-equalling ton in 49th over; double sweet birthday for Virat Kohli

KOLKATA: It was icing on the cake for ace cricketer Virat Kohli as the former Indian captain equalled veteran Sachin Tendulkar's record of the most number of centuries scored in ODI's. Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record by scoring his 49th ODI century against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the World Cup on Sunday.

Virat was celebrating his 35th birthday on Sunday and there was so much anticipation, with serious betting also happening in some corners of the internet about Virat hitting the special ton on his special day. Even many social media platforms including Twitter predicted the happening. Kohli scored 49 centuries in 290 ODI matches. Meanwhile, Sachin's 49 centuries came from 463 matches.

It was the first time that Kohli played on his birthday and it ended in fruition as he completed the century in 119 balls smashing 10 boundaries. Interestingly enough, the century came in the 49th over. This is the star's second century in this World Cup. Earlier, he scored 103 runs off 97 balls against Bangladesh. India scored 326 runs for five wickets in 50 overs with the batting excellence of Kohli who scored 101 runs without getting out.

With this, Kohli now has a total of 79 centuries in international cricket. Kohli has 29 centuries in Tests and one century in Twenty20s. Only Sachin is ahead of Kohli with 100 centuries. Sachin Tendulkar has 51 centuries in Tests. Kohli made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2008 and scored his first ODI century in 2009. The first century was also against Sri Lanka.