Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], October 9 (ANI): Captain Shai Hope’s unbeaten 102 off 45 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford’s explosive 84 and Romario Shepherd’s quickfire 34*, powered West Indies to a six-wicket win over India in the second T20I off the five-match series at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Friday.
After India posted 249/5 in 20 overs, powered by Sanju Samson’s 82 off 41 balls and contributions from Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma, West Indies captain Shai Hope led the chase alongside Sherfane Rutherford, who scored 84 off 37 balls, and Romario Shepherd, who remained unbeaten on 34 off 13 deliveries. The visitors reached 252/4 in 18.3 overs to level the five-match series 1-1.
The victory gave West Indies their highest successful run chase in T20Is and marked the second-highest successful chase in the format, behind South Africa’s pursuit of 259 against West Indies in Centurion in 2023.
Defending 249, India made an early impact through Mayank Yadav, who dismissed Kamil Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer off consecutive deliveries in the opening over, reducing West Indies to 9/2.
Captain Shai Hope and Rovman Powell then steadied the innings, taking the visitors to 58/2 in five overs. Powell scored 24 off 13 balls, including four boundaries and a six, before Mayank returned to dismiss him in the sixth over.
Sherfane Rutherford joined Hope and immediately went on the attack, racing to 28 off just 11 balls. Hope also continued his aggressive approach, reaching his half-century in only 24 deliveries as West Indies crossed the 100-run mark in the ninth over.
Rutherford stepped up the assault in the 12th over, smashing Axar Patel for 23 runs as West Indies reached 152/3. Naman Dhir conceded 18 runs in the 13th over, with the two batters continuing to find boundaries. Rutherford brought up 84 off 37 balls, hitting seven fours and seven sixes.
Arshdeep Singh kept the scoring in check in the 14th over, conceding just eight runs as West Indies moved to 178/3. Kuldeep Yadav then dismissed Rutherford in the 15th over, ending his explosive innings.
However, Hope continued to lead the chase, finding a strong partner in Romario Shepherd. The pair attacked Kuldeep in the 17th over, collecting 24 runs as West Indies reached 223/4 after 17 overs.
Shepherd continued the assault against Arshdeep in the 18th over, helping West Indies collect 17 runs and leaving them needing just 10 from the final 12 balls.
Hope then sealed the chase in style, smashing two sixes in the 19th over bowled by Axar Patel to bring up his second T20I century. He reached the landmark in just 45 balls and remained unbeaten on 102, with six fours and nine sixes.
India endured a difficult outing with the ball, with Mayank Yadav emerging as the standout bowler with three wickets for 36 runs in three overs. Kuldeep Yadav took one wicket but conceded 53 runs in four overs, while Arshdeep Singh gave away 45 runs in his four overs. Axar Patel had an expensive spell, conceding 63 runs in 3.3 overs.
Earlier in the match, West Indies captain Shai Hope opted to bowl after winning the toss, and India’s batters attacked from the start and scored at more than 12 runs per over to finish at 249/5 in 20 overs.
India lost opener Abhishek Sharma early in the fourth over as he departed after scoring 20 runs off 12 balls. Despite Sharma’s wicket, Samson took charge, attacking both pace and spin. He brought up his half-century in just 21 balls and went on to score 82 off 41 deliveries, hitting nine fours and four sixes.
Ishan Kishan continued the attack with 43 off 22 balls, including six fours and two sixes. Samson and Kishan added 97 runs off 43 balls for the second wicket, taking India past the 100-run mark in the ninth over.
Roston Chase brought West Indies back into the game by dismissing Kishan and Shivam Dube, who scored seven off 10 balls. Chase had figures of 3/24 in his four overs.
Shamar Springer then dismissed Samson in the 15th over. However, despite the wickets, captain and the centurion from the series opener, Shreyas Iyer, and Tilak Varma kept the scoring rate high.
Iyer and Varma combined to score 21 runs off the 18th over bowled by Shamar Springer as India reached 215/4 in 18 overs.
Shamar Joseph conceded 11 runs in the penultimate over before Tilak Varma attacked Shamar Springer in the final over, smashing three consecutive sixes to take 23 runs off it.
Shreyas Iyer was dismissed during the over, while new batter Naman Dhir hit a boundary off the final ball as India finished their innings at 249/5 in 20 overs.
Apart from Roston Chase, Shamar Springer was the only other wicket-taker for West Indies, claiming two wickets but conceding 64 runs in his four overs. (ANI)
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