India captain Virat Kohli has kicked started the 5-match ODI series against Sri Lanka with an outstanding half-century and that innings has helped to him to come near yet another milestone in One Day Internationals.

Kohli smashed 82* off just 70 balls and built a dazzling 197-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan, who smashed a brilliant century to help the visitors take a 1-0 lead in the series.

With the help of this innings, Kohli is just 45 runs behind South African captain Faf du Plessis and 16 runs behind England Test skipper Joe Root in the list of most runs scored in this calendar year. Virat has now scored 769 runs in 14 matches this year while Du Plessis has amassed 814 (16 matches) and Root 785 (14 matches). However, Kohli’s batting average is the best in the lot as he has hit these runs at an amazing average of 96.1 compared to Root’s 71.3 and Du Plessis’ 58.1.

With 4-ODIs left in the series, Kohli has every chance to overtake these two greats of modern day cricket as the leading run-scorer of 2017. While, England and South Africa will play their next ODIs on September 19 (against West Indies) and October 15 (against Bangladesh), respectively.

Also, when it comes down to successful run chasing Kohli has enormous numbers, as in past seven innings, Kohli has slammed 726 runs with the same average which included three centuries and four-half centuries.

The Men in Blue will play the 2nd ODI against the Lankans at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Thursday.