Virat Kohli hits ton, India thrash West Indies

Virat Kohli's 114-ball 127 helped India beat West Indies by a 59-run margin in the fourth and final ODI at Dharamsala on Friday.

Kohli, who managed just one fifty across Tests and ODI's since February, walked in in the 12th over after opener Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for 35. He took the cautious approach in the first three overs and looked to rotate the strike.

Kohli pierced the field for the first time in the 16th over, smashing two boundaries of medium pacer Andre Russell. Along with Ajinkya Rahane, Kohli continued to build on the solid-opening platform that Dhawan and Rahane had given the side earlier.

India were 142 for 2 when Rahane was dismissed in the 27th over. Kohli and Suresh Raina nearly doubled that with a 138-run stand that took 108 balls.

Raina and Kohli collected 52 off the batting Powerplay, and India took 94 off the last ten overs. Kohli reached his hundred on an overthrow off his 101st delivery. He hit 13 fours and three fixes enroute his 20th ODI hundred. The solid top-order display by India helped them set West Indies an imposing 331-run target.

West Indies in reply were shaky at the start start and lost opener Dwayne Smith in the second over for one. Kieron Pollard followed soon after. His dismissal added more pressure on the side that had decided earlier in the day to cut short their tour due to the payment dispute with their board.

Marlon Samuels held fort for the tourists and smashed India's bowlers to score 112 runs from just 106 balls. But a majority of the other West Indies batsmen failed to come good and they buckled to just 271 in 48.1 overs.

"The kind of cricket I've played in the last four five years, I guess people expect runs from me every time. I guess it's all about clearing your mind and being positive and take my time and not rush into it," Kohli said.

"I'm someone who relies on visualisation a lot. I visualised myself playing against the bowlers the next day. I'm a confidence player and that works for me. Some time off helped to forget the bad phase, hopefully I can build on it. It was more mental than physical, had to do a bit of alteration with the way I was setting up."