Lara hails Samuels' perfect timing

West Indies captain Brian Lara believes Marlon Samuels is peaking at the right time after watching him inspire the World Cup hosts to a 21-run warm-up win over Kenya.

Samuels hit exactly 100 before he retired, helping the Windies post a total of 268 for six at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium.

"We are really appreciative that he is coming to the party at this point in time," said Lara. "It's a really special time in the history of West Indies cricket, since it's the first time the World Cup is being played in the Caribbean."

Lara was pleased with the way his side batted, adding: "I was happy with the first half of the game. We had to bat on a pitch which was doing a bit and we came through it.

"I feel, however, we did not do as well in the second half of the game. But this was just a warm-up and some of the guys were playing their first match for some time, so we will get back into the nets and try to work on some of the areas in which we fell down."

Kenya skipper Steve Tikolo was disappointed at the outcome of the match.

"We did well up front, but we let them get too many runs in the latter stages," he said.