3rd ODI: Virat Kohli's epic 166 fires India to 390/5
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 5: Virat Kohli strolled his way to his third hundred in four innings after Shubman Gill's sublime century as India amassed 390 for five against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI here on Sunday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (42 off 49) and Gill (116 off 97) laid the platform for a massive total with a 95-run opening partnership before Kohli (166 not out off 110) did the needful with his 74th international hundred and 46th in the 50-over format.
Kohli, who had ended a nearly three year wait for an international hundred in the Asia Cup last year, is back to his best and has been scoring hundreds at will in a World Cup year.
The 34-year-old is now only three short of equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 centuries. What is remarkable is his conversion ratio as he got to his 46th ton in 259 innings while Tendulkar had taken 452 innings to get to 49 centuries.
Before Kohli took over, Gill had played some high quality strokes en route to his second ODI hundred.
The 23-run over from Lahiru Kumara in the initial stage of the innings got India going. After Rohit flicked him for a six over deep mid-wicket, Gill collected four straight boundaries off Kumara, three on the off side and one was a leg side flick off a full toss.
Rohit too was looking good at the other end but got out against the run of play while trying one of his signature shots, the front foot pull.
Gill and Kohli then shared a 131-run stand in which they were hardly troubled by the Sri Lankan bowlers.
Kohli began the innings with a flurry of boundaries before accumulating runs with his exemplary running between the wickets. His first of his eight sixes came in the 80s and it was a mishit over long on, leaving him in a chuckle.
He got to 99 with a boundary which came following a collision with Ashen Bandara and Jeffrey Vandersay, who both were running towards the ball from deep square leg and deep midwicket.
Bandara was eventually stretchered off the field.
The last five overs saw India accumulating 58 runs with Kohli going ballistic after his century.
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First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
