West Indies captain Shai Hope powered his team to a historic win against India with a remarkable century, as the Windies chased down a mammoth 250-run target without too much trouble.
The India vs West Indies 2nd T20I was played at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi. The match saw the visitors win the toss and decide to bowl first on a pitch that was flatter than a highway.
IND vs WI: Shai Hope Leads WI To 250 Run Chase Vs IND
India got off to a mellow start to their innings. In the first four overs of the innings, the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson scored at over 10 rpo. However, at the end of the fourth, Roston Chase closed the door on Abhishek, who looked to power the ball over mid-on but was caught out for 20 off 12.
This brought Ishan Kishan to the pitch and thus commenced the most successful period in this game for the Men in Blue. The fifth over by Akeal Hosein went for 22 runs, and by the end of the powerplay, the score had reached 79 runs, while Sanju Samson scored a half-century in 21 balls.
Kishan picked up the pace after some cautious play at the start by the end of the 10th over. He was batting at 33 off 17, while Sanju eyed a hundred.
It was not a pleasant day on the job for any of the bowlers, except spinner Roston Chase, who kept bowling economically and took his second wicket in the 12th over, bowling Ishan Kishan over for 42 off 22 with a ball that stayed a little too low for the batter.
Seeing that spinners were in attack, came spin-specialist batter Shivam Dube at No. 4, ahead of the captain, Shreyas Iyer. However, as soon as Dube came on strike, the West Indies introduced the medium-pace bowler Romario Shepherd.
But it was again the spin of Chase who dismissed Dube for seven off 10 in the 14th over; Dube was cleanly bowled after mistiming a quicker one. So while the score was 161/3 at the end of the 14th, the run rate had slowed down a bit over the past few overs.
Iyer came in at No. 5, and almost immediately after, Sanju Samson was dismissed by Shamar Springer, caught at deep square leg for 82 off 41. At 169/4 in 15 overs, India needed some heavy hitting if they were to put up a competitive total.
In the 17th over, 16 runs were scored before 21 were made in the 18th. With the score already well past the 200-run mark, the Men in Blue made 34 runs in the last two overs to take the total to 249/5. Iyer was dismissed by Springer in the final over for 40 off 18, while Tilak remained unbeaten for 44 off 18.
While all the batters of the two-time T20 World Champions conceded at an economy of well over 10, Roston Chase bowled four overs, gave away just 24 runs at six RPO, and took three massive wickets.
Check Out: Shai Hope Leads WI To 250 Run Chase Vs IND
For the West Indies to win this match, not only did they need to chase down the biggest total in their history, but also complete the second-biggest T20I chase of all time.
This record chase got off to a poor start, as opener Kamil Pooran was dismissed by pacer Mayank Yadav in the first over of the innings. Then, on the very next ball, Shimron Hetmyer was bowled for a duck.
Captain Shai Hope kept his eyes on the prize, hitting a few boundaries before ramping up with a four and two sixes in the fourth.
In the last over of the powerplay, Mayank Yadav took his third wicket, bowling Rovman Powell over for 24 off 13 with a delivery nearly 150 km/h. However, in the remainder of the over, the incoming Sherfane Rutherford hit two boundaries and a maximum. At the end of the sixth over, Windies were reeling at 72/3.
The West Indies reached the three-digit mark in the ninth over. In the same over, Hope reached his half-century with a six off 24. At the end of the 10th, Hope was on 54 off 19, while Sherfane Rutherford kept up the pace on 39 off 19.
The Indian spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Naman Dhir had a poor night with the ball. The trio bowled 9.2 overs and gave away 141 runs while taking just one wicket. Axar alone conceded 63 in 3.3 overs at an economy rate of 18.
Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford put up a 120-run partnership in nine overs. By the time Sherfane Rutherford was dismissed, he had made 84 off 37 at a strike rate of 227. At this point, the team total was 178/4 in 14.1 overs. This chase was well and truly on.
The incoming Romario Shepherd was going to play a supporting role as Shai Hope was about to make history.
12 runs came in the 16th over by Axar, 24 came in the 17th by Kuldeep, and 17 came in the 18th by Arshdeep.
By this point, the West Indies were cruising at 240/4, with 10 runs required in two overs. However, a big concern was the fact that Hope was batting at 90 off 42. While the skipper had already played a match-winning innings for the second time on this tour, he was still 10 runs away from a century. But the good news was that he was on strike against a struggling Axar Patel at the start of the 19th over.
Shai hit a six on the first ball, punched a ball for no runs on the second, and then pulled for another six on the third, winning the match for his team and reaching his ton at the same time.
Windies made a total of 252/4 in 18.3 overs, winning the match by six wickets with nine balls to spare. Having chased a 150-run target, this is the second-highest successful chase in T20I history.
Shai Hope, for his 102 off 45, was named the Player of the Match. More impressively, he became only the second overseas player, after Glenn Maxwell, to score a hundred in India in all three formats. He scored 139 runs in the second Test against India one day less than exactly a year ago. Then, earlier on this tour, he scored back-to-back tons in the ODI series. And now, he has scored another in T20Is in India.
With this win in the India vs West Indies 2nd T20I, the Windies have tied this five-match series 1-1. The next match will be played on Sunday, October 11, at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
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