T20 Int'l: Rohit, Dhawan shine as India score 208/5 vs Ireland

Rohit Sharma missed out on a well-deserved third T20 international century as India made a mockery of an inexperienced Ireland bowling attack, scoring a commendable 208 for 5 in the opening encounter of the two-match series here today.

Put into bat, Rohit (97 off 61 balls) made amends for his poor IPL form with a breathtaking 97 off 61 balls in company of an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who smashed 74 off 45 balls.

The opening pair put on 160 in 16 overs to set the foundation. However India lost three wickets in the final over, preventing them from scoring in excess of 225, which looked likely on a placid track.

Young right-arm medium pacer Peter Chase finished with career-best figures of 4 for 35 with a memorable 20th over in which he accounted for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11), Rohit and skipper Virat Kohli (0).

Rohit went for a wild slog and was bowled thereby missing out his hundred by a whisker. His innings had eight fours and five sixes while Dhawan five boundaries and an equal number of maximums.

India reached 50 in the fifth over. When the team total reached 61, Rohit-Dhawan completed 1000-run in the form of their partnership in T20 Internationals.

India's 100 came up in the 11th over and neither batsman had offered a chance to the bowlers till then. Dhawan reached his seventh T20 half-century off 27 balls, while Rohit's 15th T20 half-century came off 39 balls.

Such was their dominance on the Irish bowling that there were only a couple mishits until then.

Ireland did have their opportunities. There were a couple of miscommunications while running between the wickets and Ireland even managed a direct hit but didn't get a favourable decision.

Stuart Thompson had a nightmarish time on the field. First, he dropped Rohit at long off in the 15th over off George Dockrell (0-40) and then let go another one at long on in the next over off Kevin O'Brien (1-36). Finally he managed to latch onto a chance off Dhawan in that same over.