BGT 2023 | Twitter reacts as Virat Kohli narrowly misses out on double ton on Day 4 in drawish affair
India continued to pile on runs on the penultimate day of the final Border Gavaskar Trophy Test and took a sizable albeit meaningless 91-run lead given the drawish nature of the game. Virat Kohli led the show for India with his 185 while Axar Patel's entertaining 79 added to the highlight reels.
The fourth and final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test seems to be heading to an inevitable draw at stumps on Day 4 with Australia trailing India by 88 runs while having all 10 wickets in hand. The visitors were left frustrated and exhausted through the majority of Sunday as the Indian batters, particularly Virat Kohli, ran them ragged under the steaming sun in Motera.
The Men in Blue resumed their innings at 289/3 but lost their first wicket on the day in the first seven overs itself s Ravindra Jadeja departed for 28 following a loose shot against Todd Murphy. Thereon, the visitors tried to seize control of the game with a series of tight spells and excellent field setups from Steve Smith but Srikar Bharat helped break the shackles with two fours and three maximums en route to a career-high 44. All the while, Virat Kohli kept plugging along with singles and doubles, eyeing a first Test century in over three years The 34-year-old ultimately got to the mark of 241 deliveries, scoring just five boundaries in the process.
However, the veteran let loose after Tea alongside Axar Patel who struck five boundaries and cleared the fence four times to register his fourth Test half-century. Despite looking at his best, Patel failed to convert his knock into a maiden ton and was bowled by a nipping delivery from Mitchell Starc but not before ensuring his team a lead of 75 runs. Kohli tried to keep the innings going as Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav fell on the other end but Smith's tactics of having everyone on the boundary ropes while Mohammed Shami occupied the non-striker's end made progress difficult. Eventually, the former skipper went for a big shot and was caught in the boundary for 185, bringing India's innings to an end at 571/9 with Shreyas Iyer unavailable to bat due to pain in his lower back. Kohli was surrounded by the visiting players as he left the pitch, each taking their turn to congratulate the Delhite on his 75th international hundred.
In response, Australia sent out night watchman Matthew Kuhnemann to open alongside Travis head after Usman Khawaja had earlier walked off the field injured. The duo just tallied three runs while surviving six overs against Shami, Ashwin, and Jadeja, with the latter even earning a thick outside edge off Kuhnemann only for Bharat to drop the opportunity.
Yelling Kohli
— Vaishnavi Iyer (@Vaishnaviiyer14) March 12, 2023
It was not intentional!
Virat kohli selfish he can run out umesh yadav its to bad virat
— baldev m. patel (@baldevmpatel) March 12, 2023
Yeah! Every Indian plays for his country.
Virat Kohli was always there for his country, he always is and he always be. Despite being sick (Anushka Sharma 's story) he came out to bat , scored a brillant 186 hours, took India to a good lead. Respect man 🇮🇳🤍#ViratKohli𓃵 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/NGpgH25XmB
— Mahirat (@bleedmahirat7) March 12, 2023
Sad!
Virat Kohli got out after 3 balls 🥲 pic.twitter.com/C9naprMSJL
— ._. (@Candy_beakhyun) March 12, 2023
Huge miss but it's okay!
I hope Shreyas Iyer is there but anyways Kohli went out. King Kohli has a chance for the double hundred but missed out by 14 runs
— Vikas Kohli (@imvikaskohli) March 12, 2023
🐐 Virat Kohli 186(364)
His highest score vs Australia#ViratKohli𓃵 #KingKohli #INDvsAUS #Kohli #ViratKohli #BGT2023 #WTC2023
There's happiness always in someone's down fall!
Kuchh log to Virat k out hone pe bahut khush honge 🥲🤧#ViratKohli𓃵
— RAJAT (@R54038700Singh) March 12, 2023
He was tired and no wickets left!
Finally! You can't keep a Virat Kohli out for too long. What a brilliant century. Playing in this heat, it became more difficult. Unfortunate that he could not get the double. But still a majestic innings.#INDvAUS @imVkohli
— Yudhajit Dutta (@YudhajitDutta) March 12, 2023
Yes! Defintely on of it.
Surely missed out on that double hundred..some roaring comeback knock this and much needed to counter #Khawaja's 180. #IndvAus #ViratKohli𓃵
— movieman (@movieman777) March 12, 2023
What?
Why didn't India declare after the fall of Virat Kohli's wicket ?
— Vipul Ghatol 🇮🇳 (@Vipul_Espeaks) March 12, 2023
Had we declared it would have gone down as innings declared at 571/9 in the record books & not all out, small thing but why not ? 🤷🏻#INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #BGT2023
Hate is the new real bliss!
Unreal Hate for #ViratKohli𓃵 .. This shows pure jealousy.. Grow up Kids.. If he would have gone out cheaper (according to your logic of playing fast) you guys can guess we would be trailing by how many runs going forward in 4th Innings. It's just pure jealousy #INDvAUS #BGT2023
— bigSeeker (@ImTottenKing) March 12, 2023
He had no space it make it!
India end up with 571 runs in Ahmedabad, 91 more than what Australia managed in the first innings, largely due to the labours of a back in form Virat Kohli, who missed out on a double century by just 14 runs.
— Behram Qazi 🇵🇰 🇨🇦 (@DeafMango) March 12, 2023
India could win this.#BGT2023