cricket

Updated: Aug 12, 2019 11:12 IST

Virat Kohli scored five consecutive half-centuries during the ICC World Cup but there was a sense of unease among his fans and perhaps in the mind of the man himself. Any player would be overjoyed with that kind of consistency in international cricket, but when it comes to Kohli, there is always that desire to see him score a century and it finally came after a gap of 11 innings in Trinidad and Tobago in the 2nd ODI against West Indies. The Indian captain won the toss and elected to bat first under clear skies. However, Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed very early in the innings by Sheldon Cottrell which forced the skipper to walk out and take control of proceedings - and take control he did. A cover drive off Kemar Roach got his innings rolling and the ODI run-machine never looked hassled at any point during his innings. He lost Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, but found solid support in Shreyas Iyer. The 42nd ODI century seemed inevitable as the skipper almost cruised his way past the mark.

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The weather in Trinidad was hot and humid and this oppressive heat started to take a toll on the players. Kohli wanted to break free as his tired limbs were sapped off energy. However, Carlos Brathwaite got the better of his attempt as his attempted heave over deep mid-wicket was caught comfortably by Kemar Roach at long off.

He walked out to a standing ovation and like it has become a norm, with every Kohli century a record is created.His120 became the highest ODI innings by any captain in the West Indies. He went past Brian Lara’s 116 which was scored against Sri Lanka at Bridgetown back in 2003.

Also, as a captain, he has scored more hundreds than fifties in Tests and ODIs, which shows his remarkable conversion rate and appetite for runs.

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“Feels good to get a hundred when the team wanted me to get one. Shikhar and Rohit didn’t get a big one. One of the top three has always got the big one. A senior man had to step up and today was my opportunity to step up. It was important to string in a lot of dot balls,” Kohli said at the end of the match.