India vs West Indies: In warm-up, Rohit Sharma hits 98*; Jasprit Bumrah keeps form going

Rohit Sharma’s love affair with Eden Gardens continued as he set up India’s 45-run win over the West Indies in a World T20 warm up fixture on Thursday. Chasing 185/6, the visitors were all out for 140 in 19.2 overs, Jasprit Bumrah changing the game in his first two overs.

While Rohit’s batting was the highlight of the Indian innings, West Indies still had a chance with all those T20 specialists in their ranks. Chris Gayle topped the list. Gayle was looking to be in top fettle. He started off with a four against Harbhajan Singh after Johnson Charles had clobbered R Ashwin for back-to-back sixes in the first over. MS Dhoni usually doesn’t open with spinners from both ends but this game was all about experiments. Gayle didn’t mind that. He clattered Harbhajan for another six.

Dhoni resorted to pace and chose Mohammed Shami, who conceded a couple of fours in his first over. The India captain sensed danger and called on his No. 1 seamer.

Jasprit Bumrah came, bowled a loosener and Charles took a single off his first ball. Now Bumrah versus Gayle; and close to 30,000 fans were on the edge of their seats.

It turned out to be sort of an anticlimax. Bumrah pegged back the West Indian opener in the first ball and knocked back his stumps in the next. The ball skidded off the surface and Gayle was late on his shot. He might have had a thin inside edge but the fans didn’t care.

Bumrah bowled nine more balls in his first spell — three to Marlon Samuels, one to Charles and five to Denesh Ramdin and gave away five runs. After two overs, his figures read 2-0-6-1. His services were not required at the death. Only one ODI and 11 T20 internationals under his belt, but the 22-year-old Gujarat pacer has become Dhoni’s go-to man. Pawan Negi, too, was very impressive, returning with 2/15 in his four overs. A six off a Jerome Taylor yorker was perhaps even better.

Brief scores: India 185/6 (Rohit Sharma 98*; Jerome Taylor 2/26, Sulieman Benn 2/30) beat West Indies 140 all out in 19.2 overs (Chris Gayle 20; Pawan Negi 2/15, Jasprit Bumrah 1/6) by 45 runs.