New Delhi: Following a masterful knock of 93 off 91 balls in the opening ODI against New Zealand at Vadodara, Virat Kohli returned to the top spot in ODI rankings after a long gap of four years. His 54th century in the third ODI at Indore would have cemented his place atop the batting charts, but Kiwi batter Daryl Mitchell had other ideas.
The Hamilton-born batting all-rounder dethroned the India superstar from the top and forced his reign to end in just seven days on the back of a scintillating performance in the three-match series.
Mitchell amassed a whopping 352 runs across the three-game series, including two centuries and a half-century, to claim the No.1 spot in the latest ODI rankings released by ICC on Wednesday.
Mitchell overshadowed Kohli in the final match on Sunday and engineered New Zealand’s first-ever ODI series win on Indian soil. While Kohli scored 124 off 108 deliveries, Mitchell smashed 137 from 131 balls and was named Player of the Match.
He was Player of the Match in the second ODI as well, scoring an unbeaten 131 off 117 balls to help the Black Caps level the series. In the series opener too, Mitchell was vistors’ top-scorer with 84 off 71.
(More to follow)..