Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik power India to 68-run win over West Indies

TAROUBA: Impressive knocks by captain Rohit Sharma and veteran Dinesh Karthik followed by a clinical bowling effort powered India to a comprehensive 68-run win over West Indies in the first T20I and and helped them take 1-0 lead in the five-match series at Brian Lara Stadium, here on Friday.

A brilliant half-century by Rohit (64 off 44) and final flourish by Karthik (41 not out off 19) propelled India to 190/6 in 20 overs, after they were invited to bat first. Apart from Rohit and Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav (24 off 16) was the other main contributor with the bat for India.

Chasing a challenging total, Kyle Mayers made his intent clear at the very start, going all guns blazing against the Indian pacers. However, he couldn't last long, as Arshdeep Singh set him up with a short delivery. The move to send Jason Holder backfired as he was cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja.

Shamarh Brooks was the next to depart, bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ravichandran Ashwin also recovered from being hit for a few boundaries by getting the big scalp of Nicholas Pooran, as the hosts found themselves at 66/4.

It was a tall task for West Indies from there and the Indian spinners ensured that there was no miraculous chase on the cards. Ashwin took another wicket, while Ravi Bishnoi also bowled with great guile after being introduced into the attack.

Eventually, West Indies were restricted to 122-8 in 20 overs, losing by a huge margin. Ravichandran Ashwin (2/22), Arshdeep Singh (2/24) and Ravi Bishnoi (2/26) were the most successful bowlers for India.

Brief scores: India 190/6 (Rohit 64, Karthik 41 not out; Alzarri Joseph 2/46 ) in 20 overs beat West Indies 122/8 in 20 overs (Shamarh Brooks 20; Ravichandran Ashwin 2/22, Arshdeep Singh 2/24) by 68 runs. IANS

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