India skipper Virat Kohli registered his first international century on this day at the Eden Gardens. Against Sri Lanka on December 24, 2009, Kohli played a chanceless innings to score his maiden century.
The ton came in a tall chase as Kohli along with former opener Gautam Gambhir helped India scale 316. While Kohli made 107 (114b, 11*4, 1*6), Gambhir scored an unbeaten 150 (137b, 14*4) to guide India home.
Sri Lanka rode on Upul Tharanga's brilliant century (118, 128b, 14*4, 2*6) and a composed half-century from skipper Kumara Sangakkara (60, 72b, 5*4) to post a daunting total of 315 for the loss of six wickets.
Chasing 316, India got off to a disastrous start as Suranga Lakmal dismissed Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar with just 23 runs on board.
In the absence of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, the stage was set for Kohli to exhibit his batting prowess and he duly rose to the occasion.
The Delhi pair of Kohli and Gambhir forged a match-winning stand of 224 for the third wicket as India won the match by seven wickets.
Gambhir, who was awarded the man-of-the-match for his knock, chose to hand over the prize to Kohli. He said, "The way Kohli batted took a lot of pressure off my shoulders and with the runs coming in at the other end, it was really helpful for me."
Kohli, who currently has 43 ODI hundreds to his name, finished 2019 as the second-highest run-getter in the limited-overs format.
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