India captain Rohit Sharma became the leading run scorer in T20 Internationals as he guided his team to a comprehensive win in the first T20 against the West Indies on Friday.
The visitors extended their white ball dominance over the West Indies with a 68-run victory in the opening fixture of a five-match series at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
Captain Sharma top scored with 64 off 44 balls with seven fours and two sixes as India scored a formidable 190-6.
In reply, the West Indies could only manage 122-8. Shamarh Brooks was the team’s top scorer with 20 off 15.
Brooks was bowled by medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had figures of 1-11 from his two overs. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (2-24) impressed once again with his pace, variations and excellent death bowling, while spinners Ravi Bishnoi (2-26) and Ashwin (2-22) dominated on a helpful pitch.
Dinesh Karthik also stood out for his effort with the bat as he provided the late impetus with an unbeaten 41 off just 19 balls.
Karthik's contribution earned him the man of the match award. "The way we finished off the innings was great because we needed to hang in there and get more than just a par score," said Sharma.
"We also want keep on trying different things at various stages of the innings to improve our overall game."
"I have been enjoying it a lot," Karthik said of his role.
"It is a very interesting role. It is not something that you can be very consistent with but on some days, you can make an impact on the team. You need the backing of the captain and coach and I have got that in abundance."
Adding to the celebrations was Sharma's rise to the top of the run scoring charts in T20 cricket. The opening batsman has now scored 3,443 runs in the format in international cricket, overtaking New Zealand's Martin Guptill.
The second T20 game is at Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, on Monday with a third match at the same venue on Tuesday. The last two matches of the T20 series will be played at Lauderhill in Florida.
India had swept the preceding ODI series 3-0.
