Former India captain Virat Kohli heartbreakingly failed to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s incredible record of 49 centuries in ODI cricket as he fell for 95 against New Zealand in match no. 21 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Dharamsala on Sunday. Kohli was attempting to reach the landmark with a six but fell just short of the boundary.

However, en route to scoring 95, Kohli became the first-ever batter to score 3,000 runs across all ICC tournaments. Kohli now has 3,054 runs in ICC events while former West Indies opener Chris Gayle is second on the list with 2,942 runs.

___ __ _____ __ _____ _______ __ ______ _

The first player to score 3_0_0_0_ runs in ICC white ball tournaments __#PlayBold #INDvNZ #CWC23 #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/IdnRshxAkD

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) October 22, 2023

Indian cricket legend Tendulkar is second-highest run-getter from his country in ICC events with 2,719 runs. Kohli also became the fourth highest run-scorer in ODI cricket during the course of his knock on Sunday – he now has 13,437 runs in ODI cricket surpassing former Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 13,430 runs.

Tendulkar remains at the top with 18,426 runs while Kumar Sangakkara is in second place with 14,234 runs. “Happy that we won. Nothing much to say. He (Kohli) has done this for us so many years. He backed himself to do the job. Kohli and Jadeja pulled us back when we lost a few wickets in the middle. The fielding is something we pride ourselves on. Today the fielding wasn’t clinical. Ravindra Jadeja is one of the best fielders in the world. These things happen,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.

Team India, meanwhile, ended a 20-year-long barren run against New Zealand in ICC events. It was India’s first win over the Black Caps since the 2003 ODI World Cup in South Africa.

Pacer Mohammad Shami walked away with the ‘Player of the Match’ award for becoming the first India to claim two five-wicket hauls in ODI World Cups.

“All the wickets are good. When you play for the country, I feel every wicket is important for you. They say that every point (wicket) in building of wickets that you compile is useful. As such, I don’t like any particular wicket more (each wicket is valuable) I enjoy all my wickets,” Shami said in the post-match press conference.

Shami said he wasn’t disappointed about spending time on the bench as long as his team was winning on the field. “If your team mates are doing well, you should support them, it’s important that the team performs well, I understand that. It was important to pick those late wickets, you always want your team to be the top side. I am very happy that I got those wickets and India is on top of the table,” Shami said.