India almost pulled of the highest ever successful run chase in T20 Internationals with lokesh Rahul smashing his maiden hundred but fell short by just one run in a nerve-wrecking last ball finish to lose the first of the two T20 match against the West Indies here on Saturday.
Rahul, who was included in the playing eleven ahead of Shikhar Dhawan, hit 110 not out from 51 balls with the help of 12 fours and five sixes and India were on the verge of chasing down West Indies' mammoth 245 for 6.
India needed just eight runs from the final over and they should have have won the match with set batsmen Rahul and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in full flow.
India needed two runs from the final ball to win the match but Dhoni failed to get those runs as he was caught by Marlon Samuels, slicing a slower delivery off Dwayne Bravo to the heartbreak of the large number of Indian supporters at the stands. India ended the run chase at 244 for 4 from 20 overs.
India thus failed to pull off the highest ever successful run chase which still stands at 236 for 6 which the West Indies pulled off against South Africa in January last year in Johannesburg.
Dhoni's men, however, had the consolation of knocking off the highest ever T20I second innings score which is also the same 236 for 6 which the West Indies made against South Africa.
24-year-old Rahul, who was dropped on 36 by Andre Russell, became the third Indian to hit a century — and the highest scorer — in T20 Internationals after Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma.
Playing in his fourth T20I, Rahul reached to his 100 in 46 balls, the joint second fastest in T20 Internationals along with South African Faf du Plessis and just one ball short of South African Richard levi's fastest 45-ball hundred against New Zealand in 2012 in Hamilton.
The match, the first international outing for India in United States, was in fact a competition of show of batting prowess between the two teams on a featherbed of a pitch on a small ground at lauderhill and Dhoni's men came second at the end.
West Indies' score of 245/6, the third highest T20 score, was amassed riding on Rookie opener Evin lewis' 100 (49 balls; 5x4, 9x6) and Johnson Charles' (79 of 33 balls; 6x4, 7x6) as the Caribbeans mauled the Indian bowlers after being put into bat by Dhoni.
This was the highest ever T20 International score against India by any team, surpassing the 219 for 4 by South Africa in Johannesburg in March 2012.
The way the West Indians were hammering the Indian bowlers, it seemed that Dhoni's decision to insert the opposition in backfired but his boys were up to the task and they were on the verge of turning the match on its head with a vintage batting performance only to fall short by just one run.
Earlier, A hapless Indian bowlers were mercilessly hammered for a record 21 sixes as the West Indies posted the third highest ever T20 International innings score of 245 for 6 in a sensational batting display by the Caribbeans in the first of the two Twenty20 match.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to insert the opposition in backfired as the West Indies batsmen rained 13 fours and 21 sixes on a flat pitch at lauderhill ground. None of the Indian bowlers came out unscathed as they were butchered by the batting pyrotechnics of the world champions.
The earlier highest number of sixes in an innings was 19 hit by Netherlands against Ireland in 2014.
Today's 245 for 6 was the third highest innings total behind 260/6 scored by Sri lanka against Kenya in 2007 and 248/6 by Australia against England in 2013. This was the highest ever T20 International 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 International, hit 100 (49 balls; 5x4, 9x6) and shared 126 runs for the first wicket from a mere 9.3 overs with Johnson Charles (79 of 33 balls; 6x4, 7x6) led the mauling of Indian bowlers.
lewis also hit the fifth fastest hundred as he reached the milestone in just 48 balls.
At one time, it looked like the West Indians would run away with the highest ever T20 International score as they reached 199 for 1 at the end of 15 overs but India made fine a comeback in the final five overs, conceding just 46 runs and taking five wickets in the process.
Except for Ravichandran Ashwin (0/36), all the other five bowlers went for more than 10 runs an over. Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah got two wickets each while conceding 39 (from 3 overs) and 47 runs (from 4 overs) respectively. The Caribbeans reached to their 50 in just 4.1 overs and the Indians were left to bring in Ashwin into the attack in the sixth over.