Kohli’s 139* with nine sixes powers India to eight-wicket win over West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram
Virat Kohli starred as India beat West Indies in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, September 27, 2026. India chased 295/7 with 300/2 in 41.4 overs to win by eight wickets with 50 balls to spare.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 139 from 88 balls, bringing up his 55th ODI century in 74 balls and hitting a career-best nine sixes in an ODI innings; he finished the match with back-to-back maximums off Keacy Carty. He crossed 15,000 ODI runs in his 303rd innings, becoming only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to reach the mark and doing so 74 innings quicker than Tendulkar.
Shubman Gill, captaining India, scored 110 — his 10th ODI hundred — and brought up the landmark in the 31st over after being dropped on 11. The hundred made Gill only the fourth India captain to record an ODI century against West Indies, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli. The innings also took Gill level with MS Dhoni for the joint-fourth most ODI centuries by an Indian batter. Rohit Sharma made 32 before being dismissed by Alzarri Joseph.
Kohli attacked early in the chase, reaching his fifty in 40 balls and registering 59 off 46 as he completed the 15,000-run milestone. His unbeaten 139 included 13 fours and nine sixes and he finished the innings with consecutive sixes; he had been dropped on 125. The aggression against Alzarri Joseph and sustained boundary hitting accelerated the chase after Gill had laid the platform.
The century was Kohli’s 55th ODI hundred, extending his lead over Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 ODI centuries. Before this innings he had scored 2,261 ODI runs against West Indies, including nine centuries, and he added another hundred to that tally in Thiruvananthapuram.
West Indies had posted 295/7 after Justin Greaves scored 101 from 108 balls and John Campbell made 62, the pair putting on 135 for the first wicket in 19.2 overs. Kuldeep Yadav returned figures of 4/40, removing Campbell, Shai Hope, Greaves and Jewel Andrew in a spell that shifted the momentum from 176/1 to 198/5. Amir Jangoo’s unbeaten 58 helped push the total to 295/7.
With Jasprit Bumrah away at the Asian Games and India looking to settle combinations ahead of the 2027 World Cup, the remaining matches will offer further assessment. India travel to Guwahati for the second ODI on September 30, before the series concludes in Mullanpur on October 3.
