IND vs SA: Ruturaj Gaikwad roars back in form with maiden ODI century from just 77 balls

India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad went on to bring up his maiden ODI century in the second ODI of the three-match series against South Africa. He reached the milestone after facing just 77 deliveries as the opposing bowlers failed to stop him from scoring freely. The 28-year-old had only registered a single 50+ score before this knock in the seven ODIs that he had played, but now he has a hundred to show as well.

The century saw Gaikwad overtake legendary Australia cricketer Michael Bevan for the highest List A average (58.02*) in the world. This was 18th hundred in List A cricket in only 88 innings and it will likely be the most memortable one of them all. This was also Gaikwad's second century for India in international cricket with his first coming in a  T20I  against Australia  in 2023.

Gaikwad's magnificent return

Notably, Gaikwad had been absent from India's ODI set-up since  December, 2023 before the series against South Africa. His  last international appearance had come in a T20I against Zimbabwe in 2024, but he had been dropped from the format after the conclusion of that series as well. The ODI series  against South Africa was crucial  for the batter as another poor  performance may have once again seen him get dropped from the set-up altogether.

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Fortunately for him, even though he got dismissed cheaply for eight runs in the series opener, he went on to back it up with an incredible century. Gaikwad would also form a mammoth 195-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who continued his blistering form in the format and played another fine knock. The two ensured that the Men in Blue surpassed the 250-run mark for the loss of just two wickets. The Maharashtra batter scored 12 boundaries and two sixes in his knock of 105 before being dismissed by Marco Jansen in the 36th over.

Kohli makes South Africa pay

This was a massive wicket for South Africa as the humongous partnership was finally broken. However, Kohli would go on to punish the bowlers further and would eventually reach his second century of the series  in style. Thanks to the two hundreds,  India are well on their way to cross the 300-run mark.