The story of the week, the one that required two days of recovery before this blog could be written; Virat Kohli finally scored his long awaited 20th century. He had faced more than just a slump in form during his time in England, he appeared to have lost his confidence and replaced it with a fear that kept him glued to his crease and reaching for the ball. The Kohli that played in the 4th ODI in Dharamsala was a new man, one who was calm and collected. He looked as though he had never been in a slump and appeared as though summer had never happened.

Kohli’s milestone put him at the top of the ODI rankings by percentage of centuries. He currently has the highest conversion rate of all players with 20+ centuries. 15% of Kohli’s 133 ODI innings have produced a century with a 39.2% conversion rate showing exactly how skilled he is.

What ended up being the final ODI of the series was a fantastic all round performance from India, they bowled well during the game and at the death but more importantly, their batting fell into place.

Darren Sammy was followed out to the toss by the WI team who were showing their support for the captain during the players stand-off against the WIPA. Sammy won the toss and made the right decision putting India in the bat first. Even with conditions favouring the bowlers, India started very well scoring 70 before the first wicket fell. Virat Kohli came in and even though he began slowly, he picked up singles and once he found his rhythm, there was no stopping him. He and Suresh Raina put on a 138 run partnership after a solid start from Shikhar Dhawan who scored 35 and Ajinkya Rahane who scored 68. India cruised to 330-6 with two players scoring half centuries and one scoring a hard earned century.

 

West Indies responded relatively poorly, being bowled out for 271 runs in 48.1 overs. Dwayne Smith got out for an 11 ball duck and Keiron Pollard scored a mere six runs from 31 balls. Marlon Samuels once again produced a phenomenal century, one that appeared even more brilliant considering the circumstances WI were facing but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to pull them over the line. He had very little assistance from the rest of the team except Darren Bravo and Andre Russell who both scored 40s.

It’s unfortunate that the WI series ended there just as India were finding their groove. With Rahane, Raina and now Kohli finding form, India have a real chance to defend their 2011 World Cup title.

However, it seems likely that Sri Lanka will be picking up the slack soon and India will be wanting practice against their 2011 World Cup final rivals.