Virat Kohli’s stay at the crease was ended by an excellent delivery from Kagiso Rabada but before returning to the dressing room at the SuperSport Park in Centurion he managed to leave head coach Rahul Dravid behind. Kohli became the sixth-highest run-getter in the history of India and South Africa Test encounters.
Kohli had 1,236 runs to his name in the format against the Proteas. He needed 13 more runs to go past Dravid. The 50-year-old has 1,252 runs from 21 Tests at an average of 33.83 including two centuries and five fifties. After the 38-run knock, Kohli has 1,274 runs from 15 Tests (including the ongoing Centurion Test) at an average of 55.39 including three centuries and four half-centuries.
Kohli also left India captain Rohit Sharma behind on the list of leading run-scorers in World Test Championship (WTC) history. The 35-year-old has 2,101 runs from 57 innings at an average of 38.90 including four centuries and nine fifties. Rohit who was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada for a single-digit score has 2,097 runs from 42 innings at an average of 52.42 including seven centuries and six half-centuries.
Kohli became the only Indian batter in the top 10 list of run-scorers in WTC. The list is led by former England captain Joe Root who has 3,987 runs.
On Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test, Kohli walked out to bat in the 10th over as Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to field first in overcast conditions. In the next over, he got off the mark with a boundary as Nandre Burger pitched one on middle and leg and the batter flicked it off his pads. In Burger's next over, he would have become the left-arm pacer's third victim of the day but Tony de Zorzi dropped the catch at square leg. He was batting on six then.
Kohli and Shreyas Iyer did not let another wicket fall in the first session as India had 91/3 after 26 overs. After the break, Rabada first got rid of Iyer with a wobble-seam delivery that kept low. A few overs later, he forced an edge off Kohli's bat which was caught by wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne. His 64-ball 38 was laced with five boundaries. India were 107/5 when Kohli departed.
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