Team India on Friday stunned West Indies with a 68-run victory in the first T20I in Tauroba, Trinidad to go 1-0 in the five-match series.
Captain Rohit Sharma’s elegant half-century and Dinesh Karthik’s blazing finish let India set the highest T20 total – 190/6 – at the Brian Lara Stadium that was hosting the first-ever international fixture.
In reply, the hosts surrendered against a potent Indian bowling attack. The spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin (2/22), Ravi Bishnoi (2/26), and Ravindra Jadeja (1/26) shared five wickets among each other while Arshdeep Singh (2/24 in 4 overs) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/11 in 2 overs), despite some initial pasting, got their share of breakthroughs. Thus, the tourists restricted the West Indies for 122/8.
Rohit and Karthik had uplifted India’s innings after a below-par show from the top order. The Indian skipper, while speaking at the post-match presentation, admitted that the score of 190 wasn’t expected, especially the way they ended the first 10 overs.
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“We knew it’s going to be slightly tough; the shot-making wasn’t easy at the start. The guys who are set need to carry on for longer and the way we finished off the first innings was a great effort. When we finished the first 10 overs, we didn’t think we could get to 190,” Rohit said.
“It was a great effort from the boys and a great finish. There are three facets of the game which we are trying to improve. We gotta try and back the ideas about executing it with the bat,” the skipper added.
The first T20I saw a brand new opening pair where Rohit walked out to bat with Suryakumar Yadav. The duo provided a decent start to the innings, adding 44 runs for the opening wicket before the latter fell prey to Akeal Hosein.
Rohit said the team wanted to try out certain things and at the end of the day, it was a great effort from the players.
“We want to try certain things and all in all I thought it was a great effort. Certain pitches will not allow you to do that, and we need to assess how we go about it. It is all about backing your skills and strengths,” Rohit concluded.
India and West Indies will now lock horns in the second T20I on Monday in Basseterre, St Kitts.
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