IND vs WI 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin set up crushing 68-run win for India

While Rohit set up the platform with a 44-ball-64, it was Karthik's calculated assault – an unbeaten 41 off 19 balls – that took India to 190 for six after being put into bat.

Three wickets inside six overs and West Indies' chances of chasing 190 were scuppered even before India needed to spread their field. So uninspiring were West Indies in their attempt to accelerate from the top that India had no problem forcing errors in what turned out to be a huge 68-run for the visitors in the first T20I at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

India's Dinesh Karthik, left, celebrates with Ravichandran Ashwin during their partnership against West Indies  (AP)

Anticipating West Indies’ mad charge, India introduced four bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin - in the powerplay. The idea was clear: vary the pace on the ball and stall their big hitters. First off the mark was Arshdeep who banged in a short ball to Kyle Mayers after being carted around the ground for a couple of hits. The line was wide and there was considerably less pace on it but Mayers still went with a half-hearted cross-batted shot, top-edging the ball to Kumar near midwicket.

Next over, Jason Holder wanted to hit Jadeja over the infield after not scoring off three Arshdeep deliveries but the slow left-arm bowler landed the ball near the rough. Backing away, Holder found the ball spinning away and crashing into his stumps. Shamarh Brooks was looking good, hitting Ashwin for a six after whipping Jadeja over mid-on for a boundary but he was too impatient in taking on Kumar who unleashed a superb slower that went beneath his cross-batted heave to hit his stumps. Instead of trying to stymie the atrocious shot-selection, West Indies continued to go for expansive shots that played right into India’s hands. None of their top seven crossed even 20.

India on the other hand carried out a decent recovery after slowing down in the middle. Bulk of the credit goes to Dinesh Karthik and Ashwin who added 52 runs off 25 balls after India lost Rohit Sharma in the 15th over. As long as Sharma was creaming boundaries, India looked good to reach 180, if not 200. The start was expectedly slow with Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer getting dismissed within the powerplay but Sharma showed what a class act he can be when he gets going, hitting a flurry of boundaries and even a six off Alzarri Joseph to race to 64 off 44.

But after losing Sharma and Jadeja within the space of seven balls, India were probably setting their sights on around 170. Karthik had other ideas though as he hit two sixes and three boundaries in the last seven balls he had faced, scoring 41 off 19 and helping India reach 190. Even as a bowling side West Indies were a mess, conceding 13 extras in wides and no-balls but the worst came in those last two overs when they conceded 36 runs