In the first T20I of the India tour of West Indies 2022, the visitors won the game by 68 runs. Rohit Sharma (64), Dinesh Karthik (41*) and Ravichandran Ashwin shone in an emphatic victory.
The Indian skipper lost the toss and had to bat first on a partially slow pitch. The star Indian opener walked out to bat with a new opening partner, Suryakumar Yadav (24). The new opening pair had a quick 44-run partnership within the first four overs. After Yadav’s fiery cameo came to an end, Rohit continued the attack in the middle overs. There weren’t any significant contributions from Shreyas Iyer (0), Rishabh Pant (12) and Hardik Pandya (1). The dangerous Indian captain’s swashbuckling knock came to an end in the 15th over. Ravindra Jadeja (16), who was looking in fine touch, also departed in the following over. Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin (13*) were the last two recognised batsmen at the crease. The off-spinner made a quick contribution which included a maximum. Karthik took initial 4-5 deliveries to get his eye in before he exploded in the death overs. The 37-year-old smashed the Windies’ bowlers in all parts of the ground, he finished the innings well and helped India to reach the 190 mark.
The home team’s opening pair provided a quick start but couldn’t continue the momentum throughout the chase. The Windies’ batsmen succumbed to the Indian bowlers and lost wickets at regular intervals in the second inning. West Indies fell short of the target by 68 runs after finishing their allotted 20 overs.
Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi pocketed two wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja gathered one wicket each.
On the other end for the Windies, Alzarri Joseph had two scalps while Obed McCoy, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein and Keemo Paul registered one wicket each.
With this victory, India acquired the lead of 1-0 in the five-match series. Karthik was named Man of the Match for his explosive cameo of 41 off 19 deliveries with four boundaries and two sixes.
India: 190/6, Overs 20, Rohit Sharma 64, Dinesh Karthik 41*, Alzarri Joseph 2/46
West Indies: 122/8, Overs 20, Shamarh Brooks 20, Nicholas Pooran 18, Ravichandran Ashwin 2/22