Virat Kohli sets ODI record at No.3 in Auckland chase

Update: this story was written while the match was in play. Result: India won by 5 wickets – 2nd inns reduced to 32 overs – DLS Target 143. Full scorecard: New Zealand vs India.

Virat Kohli reached 13,000 ODI runs at No.3 on Wednesday, 4 November, the first batter to do so, in the opening match of India’s five-match ODI series at Eden Park, Auckland.

India were chasing 186 when Kohli, needing 12 runs for the landmark, got there with his 12th run off his 13th ball, at 6.2 overs. The milestone came in his 251st ODI innings.

The milestone

Outlook India reported the landmark and noted that Ricky Ponting is second on the list of ODI run-scorers at No.3.

Before this series, Kohli had 15,109 ODI runs, including 55 centuries, which made him the second-highest run-scorer in ODI history.

Form and farewell

Kohli is 37. In the preceding ODI series against the West Indies he scored 168 runs in three innings, including an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls while chasing 296 in the first match.

He and Rohit Sharma are on their final trip to New Zealand, and Deccan Herald reports that both are set to walk away after next year’s World Cup.

What’s next

Four matches remain in the New Zealand vs India ODI Series 2026, which runs from 4 to 15 November. The second ODI against New Zealand is on Saturday, 7 November in Wellington, starting at 7:30 AM IST, followed by the third ODI on Tuesday, 10 November, the fourth on Friday, 13 November and the fifth on Sunday, 15 November, all at the same time.

New Zealand won the last two T20Is, after India took the first three.