IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli Went Past Ricky Ponting and Brain Lara to Register Huge Record With Hard-Fought Fifty in 3rd ODI

IND vs AUS: The third and final ODI between India and Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, didn’t go as per plan as India suffered its first-ever series loss at home since 2019. This was also the first bilateral series loss at home under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. Steve Smith and his men edged past India to secure a 21-run win in the third ODI to win the three-match series 2-1. For India, the former Indian captain Virat Kohli was the lone warrior.

He registered his 65th ODI half-century of his career in the third ODI. But his fifty went in vain as India got bowled out for 248 while chasing the target of 270. Virat scored a hard-fought 54 off 72 balls, with two fours and one six. Although he could complete the chase and get out in the 36th over but with his fifty, he broke a number of batting records.

IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli went past Ricky Ponting and Brain Lara with his fifty in 3rd ODI vs AUS

Virat surpassed some legends like Ricky Ponting and Brain Lara with his hard-fought half-century. With his 54-run knock, the former Indian skipper went past Ponting and scored the second-most ODI runs at home. Virat has 5447 runs in 110 ODIs, while Ponting had 5406 runs in 153 games in his career. Sachin Tendulkar is at the top with 6976 runs in 164 ODIs at home. The 34-year-old also equaled West Indian legend Desmond Haynes for joint-third most half-centuries against Australia.

Virat overtook Brain Lara’s tally of 18 fifties against Australia in ODIs and registered his 19th fifty. Haynes also had 19 half-centuries in his career. Tendulkar (24) and former West Indian great Viv Richards (23) are in the top two positions. Notably, Virat also edged past Jacques Kallis and registered the second-most half-centuries at home in ODIs. It was his 47th ODI fifty at home, while Kallis had 46 in his superb career.

Indian legend Tendulkar holds the record for most ODI fifties at home with 58 half-centuries. Earlier in the game, India won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first. Australia had a number of good contributions in the middle. As a result, they reached a competitive total of 269, which proved to be enough for them to win. India got bowled out for 248 runs and lost the series.