BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (CMC):

NOT EVEN a slow start and two hits on the helmet could deny Sherfane Rutherford his maiden One-Day International (ODI) century on Sunday.

The 26-year-old left-hander continued his blistering start to his ODI career by scoring a match-winning 113 from just 80 balls with eight sixes and seven fours to help the West Indies to a convincing five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the opening -ODI at Warner Park.

Rutherford added 99 runs with captain Shai Hope scoring 86 for the fourth wicket, helping West Indies reach 295 for five runs and trailing Bangladesh’s 294 for six runs.

It was his fifth consecutive ODI score of over 50 and the fourth West Indian to achieve the feat after Gordon Greendige, Chris Gayle and Shai Hope.

In 10 ODIs, Rutherford has scored 443 runs and averaged an impressive 73.83.

However, he had to overcome a nervous start and some hostile bowling from fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who hit him twice with short balls, to be on his way to three figures.

In an interview following his Man of the Match performance, Rutherford said the early challenges he faced helped him stay focused throughout his innings.

“It’s always a good feeling to score your first century. That’s why we all play cricket and I’m glad I did it for my team today.

“I just took my eyes off the ball and got hit, but that’s part of the game. I think it gave me a little boost and helped me focus better so that at the end of the day I’m ready to take a hit for my team and once I score runs I’m happy,” Rutherford said.

“It was a bit of a tough start for me too but it was a good wicket so I planned to give myself some time and I knew that if I gave myself some time I can always catch up in the end “The conversation with the skipper was supposed to be deep and he reminded me that I could make it up to you in the background.”

Rutherford said while Bangladesh did a good job to reach their final total, he praised the West Indies bowlers for helping to restrict them at the death on a very good batting track.

“I think we bowled well, they batted well too, but I think we pulled them back in the end.

“At the end of the day our plan was to limit them to the lowest total as possible, so it was good for the bowlers and good for us,” Rutherford said.