Ruturaj Gaikwad has reached a massive personal milestone during the second India vs South Africa One Day International (ODI) by smashing his first-ever century for the national team in the format.
He has scored tons for India A before, but this is his very first centurion outing for the senior team.
He achieved this feat in 77 balls, at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Raipur, hitting an impressive 12 fours and 2 sixes in the process.
150-Run Partnership With Virat Kohli
In scoring this memorable ton, Gaikwad also stitched a 150-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who himself is nearing his 53rd ODI ton, which would break his own record for the most in the format.
The two, collectively, are taking India towards a challenging total at a steady rate.
The Men in Blue will need to go much past the 300-run mark, as the surface looks good for batting, and the Proteas gave them a tough fight chasing 350 back in Ranchi during the first ODI fixture of the series.
A win today would grant the series victory to India, which would do them a world of good after the 2-1 ODI series loss against Australia, and 2-0 Test series clean sweep against South Africa, that too at home.
Ruturaj Gaikwad India Stats
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who captains the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, has played 23 T20 Internationals, scoring 633 runs them, which interestingly, include one ton, and four 50+ scores thus far.
Today’s India vs South Africa ODI in Raipur is only his 8th outing for India in the 50-over format, in which he has crossed 200 runs collectively, and recorded his first-ever ton.
As for Tests, Gaikwad is yet to represent the national team in the longest format.
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