Virat Kohli roared back to form with a valuable fifty to stabilise the innings and help propel India towards a winning total in the second T20I against the West Indies at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Friday. 

Kohli, who hasn’t scored an international century in over two years, scored 52 runs from 41 deliveries as he helped build a platform for Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer to lead a late onslaught and lead India to 186 from 20 overs. 

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The innings helped Kohli add another feather to his cap, as the Delhi-born batsman reached his 30th T20I fifty, equalling captain Rohit Sharma’s record for most fifty plus scores in the shortest format. 

Sharma reached the milestone in 89 innings, with Kohli getting his 30th T20I fifty in 24 fewer innings. 

Pakistan captain Babar Azam is third on the list, with 26 fifties, while Australian and New Zealand openers David Warner and Martin Guptill round off the top five, with 2 each. 

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Kohli was also just four runs short of the record of most T20I runs, held by Guptill. The 35-year-old has 3,299 runs in the format, with Sharma third in the list with 3,256. 

Meanwhile, after being invited to bat first, India got off to a stuttering start with young opener Ishan Kishan failing to deliver again, perishing for just two from ten deliveries. 

Roston Chase continued his impressive form on the tour, dismissing skipper Sharma (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (8) to leave India reeling at 72 for three from 9.5 overs.

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Kohli’s fifty stabilised the innings before Pant and Iyer scored 76 in the final stages to lead India to 186 for the loss of 5. In reply, the Windies led a spirited fightback to take the game to the final over, but fell short by eight runs as they lost the fifth consecutive game on the tour.