Virat Kohli notched up his 51st ODI ton as India beat Pakistan by six wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Sunday. Pakistan have now lost back to back games in the tournament and are almost eliminated from the tournament.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Hardik Pandya dismissed Babar Azam (23) in the ninth over of the innings. In the very next over, Imam-Ul-Haq ran for a suicidal run and found himself short of the crease with Axar Patel hitting the stumps.
Pakistan skipper Mohammed Rizwan (46) stitched a 104-run stand with Sud Shakeel (62) as the duo brought Pakistan on track. Once both were dismissed, Pakistan lost wickets in a cluster in the middle-overs. From being 159/5 since Shakeel's dismissal, Pakistan lost their last six wickets for just 82 runs.
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The Indian seamers kept up the pressure right from the get-go. Harshit Rana picked up one wicket and Hardik Pandya picked up two. This allowed the Indian spinners to get into the game. Kuldeep Yadav picked up three for 40 while Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja picked up one each.
India's chase began with Rohit Sharma playing a few aggressive shots. He quickly got to 20 of 15 balls. Then a searing yorker from Shaheen Afridi dismissed the Indian skipper. Gill was then joined by Virat Kohli at the wicket. The duo added 69 runs for the second wicket. Just when both the batters were easing into their innings, Abrar Ahmed dismissed Shubman Gill with a beauty of a delivery. Gill had an expression of disbelief after he was dismissed.
After Gill, it was Shreyas Iyer who walked out to the wicket. He scored a blazing 56 and added a 114-run stand for the third wicket with Kohli. Both of them looked in no trouble whatsoever as they rotated the strike.
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The Pakistan bowlers by then had gone out of ideas. Iyer's innings was brought to an end with the Indian team on 214 and on the brink of victory. For the last 20-odd runs of India's chase, it was all about the possibility of Kohli reaching his 51st ODI ton.
Axar Patel scored three of four balls as he handed much of the strike to Virat Kohli who hit the winning runs with India requiring four to win. He was batting on 96 and the boundary allowed him to complete his century as well. It was his 51st century overall and his fourth against Pakistan in ODI cricket.
It's About Keeping The Outside Noise Away - Kohli After His 51st ODI Ton
Kohli was named as the Player Of The Match for his brilliant century against the arch-rivals. After the game, he spoke about his knock and also about this win against Pakistan.
"To be honest, it feels good to be able to bat in that manner in an important game to seal qualification. Feels good to contribute in a game where we lost Rohit early, had to put in the understanding of what we learnt in the last game. My job was to control the middle overs against the spinners without taking too many risks, towards the end Shreyas accelerated and I got a few boundaries as well. It allowed me to play my usual ODI game. I have a decent understanding of my game, it is about keeping the outside noise away, staying in my space and taking care of my energy levels and thoughts. Very easy to get pulled into the expectations. My job is to stay in the present and do a job for the team" said Kohli in the post-match presentation.
India will now face New Zealand on March 2 while Pakistan will face Bangladesh on February 27, Thursday.
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