Mumbai
Captain Sunil Chhetri led from the front with a hat-trick as hosts India flexed their muscles and outplayed Chinese Taipei 5-0 to begin their campaign on a rousing note in the four-nation Intercontinental Cup here tonight.

Chhetri, India’s all-time highest scorer, led by example once again, scoring in the 14th, 34th and 62nd minute of the opener at the Mumbai Football Arena.

The India skipper’s team-mate at Bengaluru FC, Udanta Singh, netted the other goal in the 48th minute, in what was a thoroughly dominant display by Stephen Constantine’s men.

Pronay Halder completed the rout of Chinese Taipei by finding the back of the net with his 78th minute long-ranger from the edge of the box.

Such was India’s dominance—they enjoyed 67 percent possession—that their goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu remained a spectator for a major part of the game.

India started on the offensive straightaway and were rewarded for their attacking intent when Jeje Lalpekhlua forwarded a through ball for Chhetri to slot the ball past the Chinese Taipei goalkeeper following an expert first touch.

There was a brief halt in the proceedings owing to an injury to Subhashish Bose, following which the visiting side looked to get into the box a create their first real chance, but the attempted final shot was off target and also lacked power.

Instead, India doubled their lead as Chhetri, after a fine team display of one-touch passing by him and his team-mates Jeje and Anirudh Thapa at the edge of the box, struck from a difficult angle.