Virat Kohli took the day off, so Rohit Sharma took over, slamming a 137-ball 162 to lead India to a 224-run win over the West Indies in the fourth one-day international in Mumbai, to take a 2-1 lead.
The West Indies have been quite competitive in the series. After losing the first ODI, they bounced back to tie the second and win the third as Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer put up good shows with the bat to keep them in the hunt. Not to forget, the results have come even as Kohli slammed three centuries in a row in the first three games.
On Monday at the Brabourne Stadium, Kohli was dismissed by Kemar Roach for 16, but Sharma then built another of his giant knocks.
🔝MAN!
What an innings this has been from the HITMAN!!@Paytm #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/NoRImtbR7B
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2018
He now has 21 centuries in ODI cricket. Of those, three are double centuries – two more than anyone else. Four other times he has reached 150. In 2018, he has reached three figures five times. Thrice he has remained unbeaten, including earlier in the series, and both the centuries against the West Indies so far have been big ones: 152* in Guwahati and now 162.
“There’s no point in sticking to line and lengths for the first 10 overs and trying to contain. You know how dangerous he can be once he gets in the flow, so you have got to get him out (early).”
Kohli has hogged the headlines in the series, as he often does, but Sharma has been only a little bit behind his captain. The West Indies will have to be at their very best to counter the twin threat – not to forget Ambati Rayudu, who scored 100 in the fourth ODI – to square the series.
