Virat Kohli registered the 85th hundred of his international career on Sunday, January 18 in the third and final one-day international of a three-match home series against New Zealand. The ex-skipper scored runs from 108 balls for the Men in Blue.
India needed to only pursue a 338-run target in the series decider. Kohli was the home team’s last hope despite losing wickets. Everyone else he was the last hero soldier still fighting at the end.
This was Kohli’s 54th century in ODIs. He extended his purple patch with yet another outstanding batting performance. The 37-year-old’s knock came to an end in the 46th over when he was caught at long-off by Daryl Mitchell off the bowling of bowler Kristian Clarke.
Kohli received great appreciation for his impressive batting performances. Here are some of the most popular reactions on X:
Kohli is Unstoppable. Batting as good as we’ve ever seen him bat in his favourite format.
Virat GOAT Kohli 🙌😇 #IndvNZ
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 18, 2026Virat kohli has a zidd to prove his critics wrong.. will keep scoring 100s.. king for a reason.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) January 18, 2026Kohli when everyone fails 🐐👑 pic.twitter.com/OE0kZBU9i3
— supremo (@hyperkohli) January 18, 2026Virat Kohli in 2016 | Virat Kohli in 2026 pic.twitter.com/x1DD6LWCnD
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) January 18, 2026Virat Kohli (12,676 runs) also became the leading run-scorer at No. 3 in ODIs when he was on 17 during his innings off Jason Holder, breaking Ricky Ponting’s (flight only: 12,662 from 330 innings) record. India’s leading anscorer in the series with 240 runs from three innings at an average of 80, he was on course for his second hundred when a brain freeze led to his dismissal.
Virat Kohli ton goes in vain as New Zealand secure a 41-run win to seal series victory
Virat Kohli put India in contention by creating key partnerships with Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana. He and Reddy combined 88 runs off the same number of balls for the fifth wicket.
Kristian Clarke broke the stand in the 28th over, knocking Reddy for 53 off 57 balls. Kohli then formed a magnificent 99-run stand with Rana for the seventh wicket.
Rana reached his first ODI half-century before falling to Zakary Foulkes for 52 off 43 balls in the 44th over. India was eventually hauled out for 296.
New Zealand won the three-match series 2-1 after scoring 41 runs. It’s worth remembering that this was the Black Caps’ first ODI series win on Indian soil.
