India captain Virat Kohli on Sunday scored his 54th ODI half century against England in the World Cup encounter in Birmingham. In doing so, the right-handed batsman also became the first captain in history to score five consecutive fifties in a World Cup.

The 30-year-old also became only the second player after Steve Smith, to score five consecutive fifties in World Cup tournament. The former Aussie skipper had achieved the same feat in the 2015 edition of the tournament.

It was also Kohli’s 10th fifty+ score against England and his fourth fifty against the same opposition in the last five innings.

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The batsman was eventually dismissed for 66 by James Vince. Kohli has so far registered scores of 66, 72, 67, 77, 82 and 18 in the tournament. Despite scoring four fifties before the encounter, questions were raised whether Kohli’s inability to convert fifties into hundreds would pose a problem for the men in blue in the contest.

Earlier, Mohammed Shami registered his maiden five-wicket haul as the hosts posted a mammoth total of 338 on the board after winning the toss and electing to bat.

India are currently unbeaten in the tournament so far, with five wins and a draw in six games. The side need just one more win to book a semifinal spot.

First Published: Jun 30, 2019 21:10 IST