Rohit Sharma struck his fourth hundred as India beat West Indies by 71 runs in the second Twenty 20 on Tuesday.
Sharma scored 111 runs off only 61 balls, and hit eight fours as well as seven sixes, as India notched up 195-2 after being put in to bat. In reply, West Indies were restricted to 124-9 to give India a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match series.
At India's newest international venue, Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan (43) raced off the blocks as they put on 123 runs off 84 balls for the first wicket. They belted the West Indies' attack on a good batting surface, notching up 50 off 39 balls and racing to 100 off 76 balls.
India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar, right, and KL Rahul celebrate the wicket of West Indies Fabian Allen during the second Twenty20 international cricket match between India and West Indies at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, India, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (AP PhotoAltaf Qadri)
The visitors had no response to this attacking stroke play as Sharma reached his half-century off 38 balls.
Dhawan was subdued as he faced 41 balls and hit only three fours. He was the first to go, out caught off Fabian Allen (1-33), although India was in control.
Rishabh Pant (5) was sent up the order to make use of the launching pad, but he diminished trying to needlessly force the scoring rate. Lokesh Rahul then put on 62 runs off only 28 balls with Sharma for the third wicket as India put up a nearly insurmountable target for the West Indies.
In doing so, the stand-in skipper reached his fourth T20 hundred off 58 balls, the most for any international batsman in this shortest format.
"The 120-run partnership was very crucial for us," Sharma said. "Today was the perfect platform. Rahul helped us finish off things very well. It felt like a good stadium for the first game and hopefully we will play many more games here."
Chasing 196 to level the series, West Indies never really got going. Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed (2-30) surprisingly opened the attack and struck almost immediately, bowling Shai Hope (6) in the second over. Shimron Hetmyer (15) and Darren Bravo put on 26 runs for the second wicket, and only for a while it seemed West Indies might be able to challenge.
But Ahmed struck for a second time as Hetmyer holed out to long on in the sixth over and the collapse began. India's bowlers hunted in a pack thereafter, with Kuldeep Yadav (2-32) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-12) sharing four wickets to break the West Indies' middle order.
Bravo top-scored with 23 runs, highest among the visiting batsmen, and it only showcased the massive gulf between the two sides. Jasprit Bumrah (2-20) returned late into the innings to strike twice, removing Kieron Pollard (6) and Khary Pierre (1) in similar fashion, caught and bowled.
"We didn't field well today after the last game. It is always an uphill task to chase such a tall total," West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite said. "They batted well without losing wickets in the initial overs but we wanted to restrict them to 170-180, and it didn't happen."
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ALTA BADIA, Italy (AP) — Yes, a Marco won the World Cup giant slalom Sunday. Just not the one expected at Alta Badia.
Marco Schwarz was first on the classic Gran Risa course where Marco Odermatt, the dominant skier of his generation, had won five of the past six giant slaloms.
Wearing start bib No. 1, Schwarz got a wire-to-wire win by protecting his first-run lead to finish 0.18 seconds ahead of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil.
“This victory means a lot to me,” said Schwarz, who missed almost a full year of racing through injury since his previous win in a slalom in December 2023.
“It’s good for the soul, good for the whole team,” he said, after hugging third-placed Austria teammate Stefan Brennsteiner in the finish area.
Pinheiro Braathen had been the only other racer to win an Alta Badia giant slalom since Odermatt’s winning run started in December 2021. Pinheiro Braathen was racing for Norway in 2022 and later switched to his mother's home nation Brazil, getting its first World Cup win last month in a slalom.
Maybe fatigue caught up with Odermatt after a tough three-day program of speed races at nearby Val Gardena, where since Thursday he won a downhill and was runner-up in a downhill and a super-G.
Odermatt placed sixth Sunday trailing 0.82 behind Schwarz’s two-run time, and showed a rare flash of anger crossing the finish line. Odermatt still has a huge lead in the season-long overall standings chasing a sixth straight title with more than double the points of second-placed Schwarz.
It was the seventh career World Cup win and second in giant slalom for the 30-year-old Schwarz, one of the most all-purpose skiers on the men’s circuit. His previous GS win was in California, at the Palisades Tahoe resort in February 2023.
The race included the first Russian skier in a men's World Cup event for nearly four years since the easing of a ban imposed during the war on Ukraine by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.
The 35-year-old Aleksander Andrienko was given approved neutral status this month by FIS to resume competing so he could try to qualify for the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
Given the No. 39 start bib Sunday, Andrienko was 52nd-fastest and more than one second outside the top-30 times that qualify for a second run. Neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus must compete without their national identity of team colors and flag.
Missing from the lineup was Alexander Steen Olsen, who opted this week for season-ending knee surgery because of a persistent injury.
Steen Olsen was a two-time winner in giant slalom on the World Cup circuit last season and shaped as a medal contender at the Olympics. Odermatt is the Olympic champion in giant slalom.
AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup Giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen speeds down the course towards the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup Giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Austria's Marco Schwarz celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup Giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
United States' River Radamus speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Austria's Marco Schwarz speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
