West Indies Cricket Team captain Shai Hope kept up his prolific form as he scored his second century in the ongoing T20I series against India, and in the process broke a very impressive record.
The India vs West Indies 4th T20I is being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. On yet another flat deck for this high-scoring series, the home side won the toss and decided to bowl first.
India vs West Indies: Shai Hope Record Breaking 100 Vs India 4th T20I
The Windies made a change in their top order today, bringing in Jewel Andrew in place of Kamil Pooran to open the innings alongside the skipper. For India, rapid pace bowler Mayank Yadav opened bowling and bowled an impressive first over, giving away just three runs.
Andrew, playing his first game of the series, opened up his hands and punished Arshdeep Singh in the second over, which went for 17 runs. The powerplay as a whole told the story of a pitch that was quite batting-friendly.
While Andrew was sent packing in the fifth over by Axar Patel, getting caught behind for 21 off 1, the incoming Shimron Hetmyer was ready to go on the attack from the get-go, scoring 17 runs in his first five deliveries as the West Indies ended the powerplay at 79/1.
The story for the next few overs saw Hetmyer emerge as the hero, keeping up the pace of run scoring. Meanwhile, Shai Hope had dropped down to playing a supporting role at the moment but still had a few boundaries in him.
Hettie was on the pitch for a good time, not a long time. He was dismissed by Prince Yadav, a soft caught-and-bowled for 33 off 12. This brought former national team captain Rovman Powell to strike.
By the end of the 10th over, the Windies were cruising at 118/2. The very next over saw Hope cross the 50-run mark for the third time in this series, reaching the milestone with a six and in just 28 balls.
Axar Patel, who had been India’s best bowler up until this point, came in to bowl his fourth and final over in the 12th over. Having conceded just 23 runs in his first three, the left-arm spinner was hit for 22 runs in his last over.
And while Powell was out in an economical 13th over for 24 off 17 at the hands of Arshdeep Singh, West Indies would not lose their momentum, mostly thanks to Shai Hope, who had now become the anchor and the high-strike-rate run scorer for the team. At the end of the 14th, the captain was batting at 75 off 39, while the team was at 168/3, eyeing a 225+ total.
Sherfane Rutherford came in to bat at No. 5 and understood that he, under no circumstances, could slow the innings down. After taking a few balls to settle in, the all-rounder was matching the aggressive hitting by Hope with his own boundaries and maximums.
The West Indies crossed the 200-run mark in the 17th over, bowled by Prince Yadav, which itself went for 22 runs.
The next two overs by Arshdeep and Prince were fine under the circumstances, going for 11 and 10 runs, respectively, but the Windies had already made 228 runs with one over to go. And that final over would be a thrilling one.
Hope was batting at 89 with six balls remaining. He finally found the strike on the third ball and took a single. That meant when he was on strike again on the penultimate ball of the innings, he was batting at 90 and needed 10 runs in 20 balls to reach his hundred.
In a similar situation earlier in the series, Shai Hope was batting at 90 when his team needed just 10 runs to win the match. There, he hit two sixes in three balls to reach his first T20I century on Indian soil.
Here, with just two balls remaining in the innings, the skipper hit back-to-back sixes, scoring his second ton of the series. Shai Hope was unbeaten on 102 off 50 at the end of the innings. The innings ended at an impressive total of 247/3.
With his hundred today, Shai Hope broke multiple records. Firstly, he now has the joint-most centuries by an overseas player in India across all formats with eight, tying the record held by AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock. This was Hope’s fourth 100 in seven matches on this tour.
Also, and much more impressively, Shai Hope has now scored the most runs for an overseas player in a T20I bilateral series in India. The record, until last year, was held by fellow West Indies player Nicholas Pooran, who had scored 184 runs in three T20Is in India in 2022.
But earlier this year, England Cricket Team captain Harry Brook snatched that record with 229 runs in four matches of a five-game series earlier this year. Hope now has 261 runs in four matches in this series.
The Men in Blue had a 2-1 lead in the series going into this match. So if they are to seal this India vs West Indies series tonight, they have a mountain to climb.
Check Out: Shai Hope Record Breaking 100 Vs India 4th T20I
Get the Latest Cricket Updates at IceCric.News. Also, Follow Our Social Media for live updates on Facebook and Instagram.
