First T20: Lewis ton powers West Indies to 245

“Normally you think on a good wicket if I’m bowling four overs, if I even get hit for 40 runs and get one or two wickets, it’s good enough”.

It was the fifth fastest T20 worldwide century.

KL Rahul scored an unbeaten 110 in the first T20 vs West Indies.

With no further play possible the match was officially called off and West Indies clinched the two-match series 1-0.

This was the highest ever T20 global score against India by any team, surpassing the 219 for 4 by South Africa in Johannesburg in March 2012.Rookie opener Evin Lewis, playing in his only second T20 worldwide, hit 100 (49 balls; 5×4, 9×6) and shared 126 runs for the first wicket from a mere 9.3 overs with Johnson Charles. India managed to score 244.

Other Indians making an upward movement in the rankings are Rohit Sharma and promising opener Lokesh Rahul.

He played with authority against the Indian attack, counting nine fours and nine sixes in an innings lasting 49 balls. Bravo cramped Kohli for room with a short ball and the ball kissed the glove as Fletcher completed an excellent catch down leg side.

Andre Russell (22) and Kieron Pollard (22) added late cameos in Carlos Brathwaite’s first game as skipper.

India strengthened their bowling by going for Stuart Binny ahead of a specialist batsman.

Chasing a mammoth 246, Rahul struck the second fastest century in T20 Internationals to guide India to an nearly improbable win before the last ball twist changed the fortunes of the men in blue.

Skipper Carlos Brathwaite (14) and veteran Keiron Pollard (22) then continued the fireworks in the middle with a 31-run stand for the fourth wicket before Brathwaite fell prey to Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliant presence of mind to be run out on the first ball of the final over.

Rahul kept the score board moving with a classy six over the covers off followed by an unorthodox reverse sweep for a boundary towards the third man. What makes the match interesting is the importance of second T20. The Indian team came out with intent.

The earlier highest number of sixes in an innings was 19 hit by Netherlands against Ireland in 2014.

The Caribbean side had piled up 245 on Saturday in what was the third highest total of all time.

For the Windies, Johnson Charles made a crucial 79 off 33 balls in Lauderhill, while Rohit Sharma (62) and Dhoni (43) contributed well for India. We tried to keep it simple and did not want to complicate things.

West Indies won the series 1-0 by virtue of their one-run victory in the first T20I. Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaspreet Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav are likely to start as the specialist bowlers in this team. Charles fell after Mohamamd Shami had removed centurion from last match Evin Lewis a couple of over before.

248 Runs scored in the first ten overs by both teams in the match – West Indies scored 132 to India’s 116.