Rohit Sharma made T20I history as India maintained their sensational white-ball form with a 68-run victory in the series opener against West Indies.
India won the ODI series 3-0 and continued in the same vein in the shortest format as Rohit claimed possession of a pair of records.
He led the way with 64 off 44 balls, surpassing Martin Guptill for the most runs in men's T20I cricket when he took his innings into the 20s.
Rohit's half-century saw him take outright possession of the record for the most scores of 50-plus in T20Is.
This made it 31 such scores for Rohit, who laid the foundation for Dinesh Karthik to power India to 190-6 in the closing overs with 41 not out from just 19 deliveries.
The Windies struck 22 off the first eight balls of their reply, but a strong start quickly gave way to a collapse.
Nicholas Pooran's side lost seven wickets for 64 runs as India's strength in depth with the ball came to the fore with Ravichandran Ashwin the star of the show.
Akeal Hosein (11) provided some lower-order resistance that was always in vain and was ended by Arshdeep Singh's yorker as India wrapped up a dominant win.
Record-breaker Rohit
Rohit now has 3,443 T20I runs to his name having gone past Guptill on 3,399.
He had been level with Virat Kohli, rested for this tour, with 30 scores of 50 or more in T20Is but broke the tie and went top of the leaderboard with his first 50 since November 2021 against New Zealand.
Spinners frustrate Windies
Seven Windies batters reached double figures, including tailender Keemo Paul, who made the margin of defeat more respectable with his 19 not out after the game was ended as a contest.
But it was a case of too many players failing to build on starts as India's spinners controlled the scoring and took regular wickets, Ashwin bowling 13 dot balls and giving up only two boundaries in his 2-22.
Lewis and King star in West Indies' T20I opener against Sri Lanka
Brandon King and Evin Lewis starred at the top of the order to help the West Indies to a five-wicket victory in the first match of their T20I series with Sri Lanka.
Despite strong showings from Kamindu Mendis (51) and Charith Asalanka (59), the West Indies' opening duo did the damage as King's 63 and Lewis' half-century paved the way for victory with five balls to spare.
Sri Lanka started poorly with the bat, losing Pathum Nissanka (11), Kusal Perera (six) and Kusal Mendis (19) inside the first eight overs of the encounter.
Mendis and Asalanka helped steady the ship, with their knocks helping the hosts to 179-7 from their 20 overs, aided by the brisk cameo from Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who struck 17 runs from 11 deliveries.
The tourists wasted no time in chasing their target, with King and Lewis doing the early damage with their incredible 107-run partnership before the duo fell to Mendis (1-14) and Matheesha Pathirana (2-27).
Despite losing three wickets in quick succession, the pressure never mounted on the Windies, with handy contributions from Rovman Powell (13) and Roston Chase (19) helping them on their way ahead of the second match on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Lewis makes special return
After a 723-day hiatus from the West Indies side, Lewis made his much-anticipated return to international cricket with a sensational half-century.
His knock included five fours and four sixes, ending the contest with a strike rate of 176.8, a total only bettered by his partner, King (190.9).
Samson proved no one bigger than the team, says India captain Yadav
India captain Suryakumar Yadav praised a 'selfless' Sanju Samson after his maiden T20I century helped the hosts defeat Bangladesh by 133 runs and win the series 3-0 on Saturday.
Samson's 111-run knock, which came off just 47 balls, helped India storm to 297-6 after batting first, before they restricted the tourists to 164-7 in the third match of the series in Hyderabad.
The 29-year-old reached his century in just 40 balls to become the second fastest among India's batters to bring up a T20I ton after Rohit Sharma's 35-ball century against Sri Lanka in 2017.
"I think we've achieved a lot as a team. I had said we wanted to have selfless cricketers and want to be a selfless team and enjoy each other's performances. That camaraderie is coming off," Yadav said after the game.
"Gautam Gambhir said the same thing before the series that no one is bigger than the team, no matter if you are on 49 or 99, you have to hit the ball out of the field. That's what Sanju [Samson] did today."
Samson, who hit 11 fours and eight sixes, also became the seventh India opener to score a ton and his strike rate of 236.2 was second only to Sharma among Indians when scoring a T20I ton.
He was ably supported by Yadav, who reached 75 from 35 balls before Ravi Bishnoi picked up three wickets and Mayank Yadav took two to keep Bangladesh at bay.
A memorable evening
Sanju Samson smashed the second fastest T20I century for #TeamIndia , off just 40 deliveries
Live - https://t.co/ldfcwtHGSC #INDvBAN | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/UC7Iy1j6yY
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 12, 2024
"We have to be flexible when it comes to batting and bowling. Bowlers have to chip in. Batters have to be flexible, and their performances were commendable," the captain added.
India also posted commanding wins against their opponents in the first two matches on their way to winning their 16th consecutive T20I series at home, where they are unbeaten since 2019.
As for Bangladesh, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto indicated it will be a case of going back to the drawing board.
"We didn't play our best cricket. We didn't execute our plans as a batting unit. For a couple of overs, we bowled well in some matches, but today we didn't bowl well," Shanto said.
"We need to believe in ourselves that we can compete against any team. We need to change our home wickets and players need to take responsibility.
"The way [Towhid] Hridoy batted today was impressive. I liked that the seamers were trying to execute their plans. Our top order needs to improve though."
India will next be in action against New Zealand as the sides play the first of three Tests in Bengaluru from Wednesday.
Samson stars as India claim clean sweep over Bangladesh in T20I series
Sanju Samson's stunning maiden century set India on their way to a 133-run victory over Bangladesh on Saturday.
Bangladesh had no answers in the chase and fell short as India secured a clean sweep in their three-match T20I series with a comfortable win.
India could not have got off to a better start despite Abhishek Sharma's dismissal for four, as Samson stormed to his century, plundering 111 from just 47 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav (75), Riyan Parag (34) and Hardik Pandya (47) pushed them further towards their total, even as Tanzim Hasan Sakib (3-66) tried to slow them down.
The hosts finished on 297-6, and Bangladesh's hopes of a quick start in their own innings were cut short as Parvez Hossain Emon was caught on the first ball.
Ravi Bishnoi (3-30) and Mayank Yadav (2-32) impressed in the field for India, stunting Bangladesh from building any momentum even as Towhid Hridoy kept them ticking forward with his unbeaten 63.
However, Liton Das (42) was the only other player to score higher than 15 and the tourists slumped over the finish line knowing they would get nowhere near India's total.
Data Debrief: Quick off the mark
With his maiden century in men's T20Is, Samson became the seventh India batter to score a ton as an opener. In fact, his strike rate of 236.2 is second only to Rohit Sharma (274.4 v Sri Lanka) among India batters when scoring a ton in the format.
Samson brought up his century in just 40 deliveries, making him the fourth fastest to do so in men's T20Is among batters from full-member sides and the second fastest among India's batters after Rohit (35 balls v Sri Lanka in December 2017).
He hit 11 fours and eight sixes in his knock, leaving Bangladesh with a mountain to climb from the very beginning.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
