Port Elizabeth: Virat Kohli-led India comfortably eased to a 73-run win over South Africa in the fifth ODI on Tuesday here, thereby clinching a historic series 4-1 with one game to play.
Read more: Rohit Sharma leaves journalists in splits with run-out comments in press conference
While Rohit Sharma (115 runs) starred with the bat, helping India reach a total of 274-7, it was not Virat Kohli’s day as he was run-out by JP Duminy.
Despite building a 105-run partnership, this was the seventh instance of either of the batsman being run-out during their stand.
The latest instance of the run-out before this was when Rohit Sharma was dismissed in this form by Peter Handscomb during the fourth ODI against Australia in Bengaluru last year. The 30-year-old went onto score 65 runs in that match.
Taking the number of run-outs into account, the Indian skipper has been the unluckiest; he has been run-out five times while Rohit has been dismissed through this method just twice, during their partnerships.
Interestingly, Virat Kohli’s run-outs in the previous matches has come as a blessing in disguise for Rohit, going onto score either a 50 or a century in such instances.
Rohit’s last five scores during partnerships with the 29-year-old skipper reads: 57, 209, 264, 124 and most recently 115.
In terms of run-outs during India’s partnerships, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar leads the way with nine instances, with Rahul Dravid-Sourav Ganguly stands following that with seven, level with the Rohit-Kohli stands.
Kumar Sangakkara-Tilakaratne Dilshan partnerships lead the way for being the most run-out victims (8 instances) for any international team, whereas AB de Villiers-Faf du Plessis partnerships have also been broken via a run-out for the same number.
The Rohit-Kohli stand stays third in this list, too, with seven instances.
With the series in the bag, the Men in Blue will look to sign off with a win when they take on Aiden Markram’s men in the final one-dayer at Centurion on Friday.
List of all run-outs between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in ODIs:
1) West Indies vs India, Kingston, 2011: Virat Kohli (94 runs)
2) India vs Australia, Bengaluru, 2013: Virat Kohli ( 0 runs)
3) India vs Sri Lanka, Kolkata, 2014: Virat Kohli (66 runs)
4) Australia vs India, Brisbane, 2016: Virat Kohli (59 runs)
5) Pakistan vs India, Edgbaston, 2017: Rohit Sharma (91 runs)
6) India vs Australia, Bengaluru, 2017: Rohit Sharma (65 runs)
7) South Africa vs India, Port Elizabeth: Virat Kohli (36 runs)
