Trinidad, July 29 (UNI) Captain Rohit Sharma's 64 off 44 and Dinesh Karthik's blazing unbeaten 41 off 19 helped India post a competitive 190/6 in the first T20I at Brian Lara Stadium here on Friday.
Rohit started India's innings with Surya Kumar Yadav (24 off 16), who opened the innings for the first time in his career, but the middle-order collapse constrained the run-flow.
The hosts did all the right things until the 17th over. They removed Shreyas Iyer for not and then sent Rishabh Pant 14 off 12 balls. Hardik Pandya too departed soon for one.
After getting reduced to 102/4 in 11.5 overs, Karthik arrived at the crease and turned the tables against West Indies, putting India back into the fray. He, along with Ravichandran Ashwin (13 not out off 10), stitched 52-run stand for 7th wicket.
They plundered 36 runs in the last two overs, taking advantage of the hosts bringing an extra fielder inside after they were penalised for their slow over rate.
Earlier, Rohit blasted at the top, but others failed to contribute much as West Indies bowled and fielded extremely well with Akeal Hosein leading from the front. He took one wicket for 14 and was involved in two fine catches.
After the departure of Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja (16 off 13) India were staring at 160-odd total, but they catapulted it to 190 due to Karthik's gallant display.
The ball was gripping and turning as was seen while Hosein was bowling, and when India walked into the field, their spinners Ravi Bishnoi, Ashwin and Jadeja would love to do the same.
Brief scores: India 190/6 (Rohit 64, Karthik 41 not out; Alzarri Joseph 2/46 ) in 20 overs vs West Indies.
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