India’s marauding cricket captain ‘King’ Kohli’s 35th ODI century set up a perfect end to the 6-match ODI series yesterday at Centurion in South Africa yesterday.

The 5-1 victory margin is easily India’s best-ever ODI record outside the sub-continent and is even sweeter coming as it does against the No.2-ranked ODI team in the world in its own den. Virat Kohli hit his 35th ODI ton in his 200th ODI match yesterday, proving for the umpteenth time that he is the ‘chase-master’ of world cricket.  He is now ranked at No.4 spot, with 55 centuries, in the list of maximum century-makers.

Batting first, South Africa only managed 204 runs, thanks to some late-hitting by bowler Morne Morkel and a rookie all-rounder, and was bowled out in the 47th over. Shardul Thakur, who was picked in place of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (to test the Bench strength), dazzled by picking up 4 wickets in 8.2 overs. Chahal, Kuldeep, Bumrah and Hardik Pandya picked up the other six wickets.

Chasing an easy target of 205, India lost Rohit Sharma early after he hit a few fours. Dhawan and Kohli steadied the Indian innings and after Dhawan’s departure, it was left to seasoned campaigners Virat Kohli and the new No.4 batsman (in ODIs) Ajinkya Rahane to steer India to a comfortable 8-wicket victory with more than 17 overs to spare.

Virat’s sparkling century earned him not only the ‘Man of the Match’ award but also netted him the coveted ‘Player of the Series’ award for his stunning 550-odd runs in the six-match series. The two teams are to play 3 T20 games shortly.