India beat West Indies by 71 runs in the second T20 International to clinch the three-match series with a game left.
India scored 195 for 2 riding on skipper Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 111 off 61 balls and then restricted West Indies to 121 for 9 in 20 overs.
Skipper Rohit Sharma smashed his fourth T20 century to power India to a commanding 195 for two against West Indies in the penultimate game of the three-match series, here on Tuesday.
It was a batting masterclass from Rohit as he remained unbeaten on 111 off 61 balls with his batting pyrotechnics.
The Indian captain now has highest number of hundreds in shortest format along with highest aggregate of runs surpassing regular skipper Virat Kohli.
Rohit was at his brutal best as he hit eight boundaries and seven towering sixes to propel India to the big score after being sent into bat.
Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 41) made up for their rare failure in the first T20 in Kolkata on Sunday, stitching 123 runs off 84 balls for the opening wicket to lay the foundation for a big score.
The pitch curator predicted a low-scoring affair on an unpredictable surface at the newly-built Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium but Rohit and Dhawan proved things wrong and looked completely at ease from the onset, stroking the ball to all parts of the big ground.
Young pace sensation Oshane Thomas got West Indies off to a fine start with a maiden over. But the Indian openers finally broke the shackles in the fifth over when Rohit and Dhawan took Thomas to the cleaners hitting a six and two boundaries, picking up 17 runs.
Dhawan, however, was lucky as Keemo Paul dropped a straight forward catch at deep mid-wicket in the ninth over off captain Carlos Braithwaite.
It eventually opened the flood gates for India as Rohit thereafter dealt mostly in boundaries and sixes to notch up his fifty in 38 balls. The right-hander mostly preferred the straight boundaries and cleared them on both sides with consummate ease.
Dhawan’s luck finally ran out in the 14th over when he was caught by Nicholas Pooran at the long leg boundary off Fabian Allen as the batsman went for a slog sweep.
Rishabh Pant failed for the second consecutive time, holing out to Shimron Hetmyer at midwicket boundary off left-arm spiner Khary Pierre.
Rohit and KL Rahul then shared quickfire 62 runs for the third wicket off just 28 balls to take India close to the 200-run mark.
Rohit Sharma Tuesday achieved twin milestones, first by surpassing regular captain Virat Kohli to become India’s highest run-scorer in T20 Internationals followed by most number of centuries in shortest format.
Rohit hit an unbeaten 111 off 61 balls to complete his fourth ton in T20 Internationals. When he reached a personal score of 11, he surpassed Kohli’s India record of 2101 runs. After today’s innings, Rohit now has 2202 runs to jump to the second spot in the all-time list led by New Zealander Martin Guptill (2271).
Rohit achieved his feat in style, clobbering a 149kph delivery off pacer Oshane Thomas over the mid-off boundary in the fifth over. Before Tuesday, Kohli held the record, amassing 2101 runs from 62 T20 matches at an average of 48.88.
