XtraTime Web Desk: India skipper Virat Kohli hits his 42nd ODI ton after 11 innings and the team’s ace pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said Kohli badly wanted to hit a century.
Kohli posted his 42nd ODI century and became India’s second-highest scorer in one-day international cricket as he guided his team to a 59-run win over West Indies on Sunday, 11 August, and a 1-0 lead with a game remaining in the series.
“From Virat’s expression you could make out that he badly wanted to score a century. Not because he had been out of form but because he had been getting out in the 70s and 80s,” said Kumar.
“The wicket wasn’t easy. When Virat returned to the dressing room, he said it wasn’t easy to score runs after the ball got old,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Kohli stroked his 42nd ODI century to pave way for India’s 279/7. He stitched a 125-run stand with Shreyas Iyer for the fourth wicket.
The Delhi Capitals captain, returning to the ODI side in this series after almost 18 months, registered his third half-century in his sixth innings to help consolidate India’s position after they were reduced to 101 for 3 in the 23rd over. In a 68-ball knock, he smashed five boundaries and a six as he amassed 71.
Kumar then returned with figures of 4/31 in his allotted 8-over spell and helped India bowl out West Indies for 210 in 42 overs, who were given a revised target of 270 in 46 overs after a brief interruption due to rain.
“I wasn’t really thinking about the result. I was just thinking about bowling more economically and bowling more dot balls. Wickets is a by-product of bowling tightly,” said Kumar.