1st T20I: Rohit's fifty, Karthik's cameo propel India to 190/6 against West Indies
Tarouba (Trinidad), July 29: A brilliant half-century by captain Rohit Sharma (64 off 44) and final flourish by Dinesh Karthik (41 not out off 19) propelled India to 190/6 against West Indies in the first T20I of the five-match series at Brian Lara Stadium, here on Friday.
Rohit, who was rested for the ODIs, looked in solid touch on his comeback and played some glorious shots. In the process, he reclaimed his position as the highest run-getter (3443 runs) in T20Is from Martin Guptill (3399 runs).
Put into bat first, India tried out a new opening pair as Suryakumar Yadav came to start the innings along with Rohit. The duo put up a quickfire opening partnership of 44 runs off 28 balls before Suryakumar (24 off 16) got out to Akeal Hosein in the fifth over. Shreyas Iyer, who came to bat next departed for a duck in the 6th over as India ended the powerplay at 45/2.
The India captain was hitting regular boundaries, including a pull for a six off Joseph and helped India make good progress despite the couple of quick wickets. Pant also got into the act with a couple of boundaries off Keemo Paul but ended up edging the last ball of the 10th over to short third man to depart for 14 off 12, leaving India to 88/3.
Despite the wicket of Pant, Rohit remained positive and got to a 35-ball fifty with two successive fours off Joseph. But Hardik fell in the same over, ramping a short delivery to third-man where McCoy took a good catch.
With Rohit well set at the crease, India were hopeful of a big total but his stay at the crease was ended on a slower ball over courtesy a diving catch by Hetmyer. Jadeja ended the over with a boundary but he fell in the next over as India were 138/6 after 16 overs.
From there on, it was left to Karthik - the designated finisher- to do the job for India. The veteran justified his role and he along with R Ashwin (13 not out off 10) scored 21 and 15 runs in the 19th and 20th over respectively and took India to 190-6 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: India 190/6 (Rohit 64, Karthik 41 not out; Alzarri Joseph 2/46 ) in 20 overs vs West Indies