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Virat Kohli did not end the much-awaited drought of centuries in the ongoing series decider but he went on to break records and achieve personal feats with a patient 29-run knock in the second innings. Playing in his 500th international innings, Kohli has the most runs (23,358 runs) across formats at this stage of his career followed by Sachin Tendulkar (22,214 runs), Ricky Ponting (21,458 runs), Brian Lara (21,451 runs), Jacques Kallis (20,478 runs) and others.
Series of feats
Kohli faced 143 deliveries to score his 29 in the second innings at a strike rate of 20.28. This is his slowest innings in Test cricket without scoring a half-century. In 2021, Kohli faced 132 deliveries against New Zealand in World Test Championship (WTC) final but could not score the fifty-run mark.
Virat Kohli has been ultra-cautious on his return after upper back spasm kept him on the sidelines in the Johannesburg Test. In total, he faced 344 deliveries in the third Test which is the most he has faced without scoring a century in a single Test. The previous most deliveries (227) he faced without breaching the 100-run mark was against South Africa also in 2015 at his hometown Delhi.
Since 2019, this is also the first time Kohli has scored over 100 runs in a Test match. However, he scored at a strike rate of 31.39 which is the lowest by an Indian captain in the history of Test cricket (recorded) after scoring 100 or more runs. He is followed by Rahul Dravid (31.71), Sunil Gavaskar (35.51) on the list.
Big partnership
After losing two quick wickets of veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane early in Day 3, Kohli shared a 94-run partnership for the fifth wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. The 94-run partnership is the second-highest fifth-wicket partnership for India in South Africa. The highest partnership for the fifth wicket belongs to Tendulkar and Sehwag. The dynamic duo stitched a 220-run partnership more than two decades ago.
This was the fourth time Kohli got dismissed by Lungi Ngidi in the longest format of the game. In the previous innings, Kohli also scored his second-slowest half-century in Test cricket. The skipper got close to the much-awaited century but lost his wicket for 79 to Kagiso Rabada as wickets fell from the other end. His 79-run knock helped India post 223 in the first innings after winning the toss and opting to bat first.
