Captain Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick as India made light work of Chinese Taipei in the opening match of the Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai on Friday.

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Chettri, playing his 99th international match in India jersey, scored in both halves while Udanta Singh and Pranoy Halder added a goal each as India secured an easy 5-0 win over a much inferior Chinese Taipei side. 

India dominated the match both in terms of possession and chances created. 

India were looking to attack from the go. Udanta Singh found Sunil Chhetri with a pass inside the box but Chhetri shot inches wide of the goal in the third minute of the game.

Chhetri scored his first in the 14th minute when Jeje released a through ball for him. The Indian captain slotted the ball into the back of the net to give India the lead.

India almost doubled their lead in the 19th minute but Chhetri failed to curl the ball home from an angle after beating the defender on Anirudh Thapa’s pass from the midfield.

In the 34th minute, Sunil Chhetri doubled India’s lead. The goal came after a one-two pass with Jeje. Chhetri passed through the Chinese Taiperi defence lines and put the ball in the net. 

Udanta Singh scored the third for India. The gold came in the 48th minute as Singh went past the Chinese Taipei defence line with sublime footwork and placed the ball home. 

Chhetri completed his hat-trick in the 60th minute when he put the ball into the back of the net from close range from a corner kick. 

Pronoy Halder then scored India’s fifth in form of a long-range strike. 

India's goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu didn't have to much apart from one save late in the match as Chinese Taipei rarely threatened to score. 

The Indian National Team will take on Kenya next in the Intercontinental Cup.

ndia have never lost to Chinese Taipei in football. In the five matches played between these two sides till now, India have won four while one was a draw.

The four-nation tournament, with teams from three separate continents -- Chinese Taipei, Kenya and New Zealand -- apart from the hosts, was conceptualised to test the Indian team ahead of the Asian Cup to be held in the four cities of the UAE from January 5 and February 1.

The Stephen Constantine-coached side has come into this tournament after a 13-match unbeaten streak from June 2016 to March this year. The team booked a berth for the Asian Cup in October 2017 with two matches left to be played.

A 1-2 loss to Kyrgyzstan in the last match of the Asian Cup qualifying campaign in Bishkek in March snapped the 13-match streak but that match has been rendered inconsequential by then.