Joe Root made an impressive 48 as England powered their way to 182 for 6 in their World T20 campaign opener against the West Indies here today.
Root struck two sixes and three fours in his 36-ball knock while cameos from Ross Buttler (20-ball 30) and captain Eoin Morgan (27 not out in 14 balls) also helped England to post the challenging score in the Super 10 Group 1 game at the Wankhede Stadium.
Other significant contributions came from opener Alex Hales (28) and Jason Roy and Ben Stokes, who both made 15.
For the West Indies, pacers Andre Russell (2 for 36) and Dwayne Bravo (2 for 41) were the pick of the bowlers. Put in to bat, England utilised two poor overs from the West Indians in the power play to get off to a good start.
Roy took advantage of a wayward Jerome Taylor in the speedster's second over as he hit two fours while the bowler conceded five wides too. In all, the over yielded 18 runs.
More gifts followed in leg-spinner Samuel Badree's next over as he lost control to bowl a full toss first ball that was dispatched to the square leg boundary by Alex Hales. The next ball was swept by Hales to the same region and he cut the third to the cover region for four.
With 31 runs coming in two overs, England's score raced to 36 in four overs when Andre Russell, who replaced the expensive Taylor, packed off Roy through a fine tumbling catch at short mid-wicket off a flick.
At the end of power play, England were 49 for one.
The arrival of England's top Test batsman Root saw the run-rate kept at a healthy eight an over as he hooked Russell for a six and then swung and flicked Carlos Braithwhite's medium pace for two fours off successive balls.
Root, playing in his maiden World T20, showed aggressive intent and outscored his partner Hales as England reached 81 for one at the half-way stage of the innings.
The second wicket partnership was worth 55 off 40 balls when Benn came back for a second spell to castle Hales -- who had slowed down after the arrival of Root -- with England on 92 in the 12th over.
Root departed after seeing England score past the 100-run mark, putting up a tame catch to mid-off after being deceived by Russell's slower ball in the 15th over. He struck two sixes and three fours.
Buttler and Morgan then carried the score past the 150 mark and towards the end Morgan, who hit two sixes and one four, and Stokes helped England add 30 in the last three overs.
