Shai Hope scored an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls in the second Twenty20 International in Ranchi. He led the West Indies to their best run chase in Twenty20 International cricket, beating India’s score of 249-5 with nine balls to spare. The score tied the five-game series at one game each.
In the record books, Shai Hope century beat Chris Gayle’s 47-ball century. It was also the second-fastest T20I century by a West Indies player. The only Windies player to score a hundred in a T20I faster than anyone else is Johnson Charles, who did it in 39 balls. It was also the fastest century by any player against India in Twenty20 Internationals. Shai Hope hit tied England’s Jacob Bethell’s 45-ball century in the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Shai Hope and Shimron Rutherford’s 120-run stand off the fourth wicket changed the game around. The West Indies were in a lot of trouble at 58-3 at the start of the game. West Indies won with one over to spare thanks to Shai Hope’s ninth six of the game. It was the same hit that got him to 100.
How were the West Indies able to beat the old record?
The West Indies were down to 58-3 early in their chase for 250 when Indian quick Mayank Yadav took two wickets in a row in the first over. Shimron Hetmyer was out on the first ball for a duck. Yadav also made things hard for the visitors by bowling Rovman Powell for 24 with a delivery that went as fast as 150 km/h (93 mph).
Rutherford, who is left-handed, and Shai Hope then started a strong defence. Rutherford hit seven fours and seven sixes in a 37-ball blitz of 84 runs before being bowled out by left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. He got to fifty off of 24 balls. After Rutherford was out, Hope and Romario Shepherd put together an unbeaten 74-run partnership, with Shepherd adding 34. This helped West Indies win.
This was the best T20I chase ever by West Indies, beating their previous best score of 231 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2015. South Africa made 259-4 against the West Indies at Centurion in 2023, which is the best run chase in the history of men’s Twenty20 cricket.
Rutherford says that Shai Hope is a “phenomenal player” who inspires him.
What did India’s round look like, and what will happen next?
India scored 249-5 when they were asked to bat first, with Sanju Samson scoring 82 off 41 balls. Abhishek Sharma, the opening, was out for 20 runs, and Samson and Ishan Kishan, who hit 43, put together 97 runs for the second wicket. Then, to stop India’s progress, spin bowler Roston Chase hit three times and bowled both Kishan and Shivam Dube.
Pace bowler Shamar Springer got rid of Samson, but captain Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma scored 83 runs off of 33 balls to take the score to 154. Varma ended the game without losing with 44 runs, while Iyer was out on the next-to-last ball of the innings after scoring 40 runs in 18 balls.
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Mayank Yadav, an Indian fast bowler, got rid of two batsmen in a row in the first over. Shimron Hetmyer was out on the first ball for a duck. Yadav also got rid of Rovman Powell for 24 with a ball that went as fast as 150 km/h (93 mph), but Hope and Rutherford helped the West Indies win. India was asked to bat first, and captain Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma quickly put together a strong score. Sanju Samson had already scored 82 runs off of 41 balls. At 1-1, the series is tied. The third game of the five-game series will be played on Sunday in Indore.
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