Captain of West Indies can do no wrong as the keeper-batter Shai Hope dazzled under the lights in Hyderabad. Shai Hope dominated the Indians for the umpteenth time as others played around him. But it was all about Hope as he gave renewed hope to the West Indies. His stunning unbeaten ton which enabled in carrying his bat as he scored 102* off 50 balls with Sherfane Rutherford supporting him with his unbeaten 49 off 26 balls as West Indies powered to 247/3 in 20 overs.
In reply, West Indies weathered the storm of Sanju Samson early on who blazed away in the power play with his half-century off 20 balls as he made 56 off 23 balls. But it was Keemo Paul’s 5-wicket haul under pressure that tilted the game West Indies’ way. He was ably supported by Gudakesh Motie who picked up 2/13 in 2 overs. Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy tried with swashbuckling 40s but in the end, India had a bridge too far to climb up. The Men in Blue finished with 223 in 19.3 overs to lose the match by 24 runs as the series is level at 2-2.
Shai Hope’s blazing 3rd T20I ton pulverised India as West Indies post gigantic 247/3 in 20 overs.Â
Put into bat first by India, keeper batter and captain of the side Shai Hope and Jewel Andrew came out to open the batting for the West Indies while Mayank Yadav had the ball in hand for India. After a quiet first over, West Indies were off and running and tore the Indian bowling apart in the power play. And the man leading them from the front was their captain Shai Hope. When you need Hope, there is Shai Hope and he delivered for the Men in Maroon.
Jewel Andrew, playing his first T20I in this series and third overall, played his part and put on 52 for the first wicket inside 5 overs before Andrew fell for 21 off 16 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Axar Patel who got him LBW. Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat at 3 and looked in full flow this evening as Hope and Hetmyer punished the Indians who were awful with their lines and lengths. They took the power play score to 79/1 in 6 overs as they looked set for a big score from this position.
The duo aced the middle phase of the game as well as the Men in Maroon crossed 100 in no time. The duo put on 58 runs in just 24 balls before Hetmyer fell after getting a start as he scored 33 off 12 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Prince Yadav. Rovman Powell came out to bat next. Powell went at a relatively slower pace, but Hope was in full flow and zone now. West Indies reached 118/2 in 10 overs as anything was possible from hereon.
The duo forged another important stand to keep the momentum going and put on 46 runs for the 3rd wicket before Powell fell for 24 off 17 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Arshdeep Singh as he was caught behind. Sherfane Rutherford the man in form came out to bat next and looked like a million dollars. The two in-form batters decimated India’s bowling to pieces.
India bowled loads of wides and gave runs for fun. Rutherford provided the finishing kick and carnage as expected but it was the Hope show in Hyderabad as he silenced the crowd there to a pin drop silence. The duo got in and then injected the aggressiveness needed to finish in style. Hope carried his bat yet again. Rutherford too played his part. The duo put on 91 runs off 43 balls unbeaten with Hope getting to his ton off the final ball of the innings, his second of the series and third of his career.
The Indian bowlers went on a leather hunt and had no answers to the brutal assault. Hope remained unbeaten on a fantabulous 102 off 50 balls with 4 fours and 9 sixes to his name while Rutherford was unbeaten on 49 off 26 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name as West Indies finished with a massive 247/3 in 20 overs. 18 extras given for fun by the Indian bowlers.
It was a torrid bowling performance from the Indian bowlers. Prince Yadav was the pick of the bowlers amidst the ruins as finished with figures of 1/36 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with 1/45 in 4 overs. Arshdeep Singh finished with 1/52 in 4 overs. Mayank Yadav finished with 0/52 in 4 overs. Naman Dhir bowled an over for 19 runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 0/39 in 3 overs. This meant that India now needed a massive 248 runs to win the contest of 20 overs to seal the series tonight by 3-1 with a match to spare.
Keemo Paul’s 5-wicket haul seals the win for West Indies by 24 runs to level the series 1-1.Â
Chasing a massive 248 runs for the win, keeper batter Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to open the batting for India while Roston Chase had the ball in hand for the West Indies. It was a relatively quiet first over before Samson went overdrive and took most of the strike. Abhishek hardly got strike and struggled for timing while Samson was dominating the power play. He looked good out there. He reached his half-century in just 20 balls.
The duo put on 60 runs inside 4 overs with Samson scoring the bulk of the runs before the right-hander was dismissed for 56 off 23 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Keemo Paul. Ishan Kishan came out to bat next and did not last long. The duo added of Abhishek and Ishan added 7 runs for the second wicket before Ishan fell for 6 off 3 balls with one six to his name to Paul. Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next.
Shreyas and Abhishek tried to forge a partnership. The power play score for India was 80/2 in 6 overs compared to West Indies’ 79/1 in 6 overs. So, the game was even there, but India lost the plot in the middle phase of the game. Shreyas and Abhishek put on 30 runs for the third wicket before the captain fell for 16 off 11 balls with 2 fours to his name to Shamar Springer. Tilak Varma came out to bat next.
Tilak and Abhishek tried to forge a partnership as the duo took India to 116/3 in 10 overs with loads of work to do from thereon. The duo added 33 runs for the 4th wicket before Abhishek finally fell as his misery was over for 29 off 24 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Gudakesh Motie. Naman Dhir came out to bat next and went first ball as Motie had two in two balls. He was on a hat-trick as the new batter Nitish Kumar Reddy came and survived it.
Tilak and Nitish got themselves in and counter-attacked to keep India’s slim hopes alive. Both took the attack to the West Indies bowlers to make it a contest to remember but they were behind the eight ball. The duo somewhat aced that phase and put on 70 runs for the 6th wicket as the 200 came up for India inside 17 overs before Tilak fell for 43 off 25 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Axar Patel came out to bat next as India now needed 48 runs off 18 balls.
The duo of Nitish and Axar added 12 runs for the 8th wicket before Nitish fell for a valiant 41 off 20 balls with one four and 4 sixes to his name to Paul. Prince Yadav came out to bat next and was castled first ball by Paul who had two in two balls and was on a hat-trick. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next. Arshdeep survived the hat-trick ball and got off the mark. Just one run was added to the score before Axar fell for 3 off 5 balls to Paul who completed a five-wicket haul.
Mayank Yadav came out to bat next as the game was as good as over. Arshdeep played his shots and got a boundary away but copped a blow on the shoulder. He carried on batting but after Shamar conceded 4 wides as a bonus to the batting side, Arshdeep was grimacing in pain. With 25 needed off 3 balls and the result sealed, Shreyas called Arshdeep in and rightly so as he was retired hurt/out for 5 off 4 balls with one four to his name. Mayank was unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball as India finished with 223 in 19.3 overs. 24 extras given by West Indies team.
Keemo Paul was the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies with figures of 5/41 in 4 overs. Gudakesh Motie finished with 2/13 in 2 overs. Romario Shepherd finished with 1/32 in 3 overs. Shamar Springer finished with 1/40 in 4 overs. Roston Chase finished with 0/43 in 4 overs. Shamar Joseph was a rare exception and disappointment as he went for 47 runs in 2.3 overs. So, West Indies win this match by 24 runs to level the series 2-2 with a game to spare. Shai Hope was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, West Indies have bounced and roared back like a lion to level the 5-match series 2-2. We are all set for the grand finale which will be the series decider on Saturday, 17th October, 2026 at Bengaluru at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. It is a winner takes all match now. Which team will clinch the series with everything on the line under pressure? Let’s wait and watch to find out on Super Saturday.
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