London [UK], October 10 (ANI): Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen hailed West Indies skipper Shai Hope for transformation in his T20 game, saying that the batter putting his name in the mini IPL auction this year could see “some paddles in the air from a few tables”.
A 45-ball ton from Hope and a fiery 84 from Sherfane Rutherford helped West Indies chase down 250 runs in the second T20I against India at Ranchi, making it their biggest T20I run chase ever and overall the second-highest chase in T20Is after 259 runs chased down by South Africa against West Indies in 2023.
Hope continued his rampant run against India on the tour, slamming his third century across ODIs and T20Is, including two centuries in ODIs. So far across both T20Is, he has scored 154 runs at a strike rate of over 187, with a century and fifty each.
Posting on X, Pietersen wrote, ” If Shai Hope puts his name into mini IPL auction, there might be some paddles in the air from a few tables.”
https://x.com/KP24/status/2108788021025992807
Between 2017 to 2023, Hope featured in 26 T20Is, scoring 493 runs in 24 innings at an average of 22.41 and a strike rate of 124.49, with two fifties. His T20I stats have seen a massive glow-up since 2024, scoring 1,404 runs in 46 matches and innings at an average of 37.95 and a strike rate of 145.95, with two centuries and 11 fifties, with a best score of 102*.
Hope is WI’s fifth-highest T20I run-getter with 1,897 runs in 72 matches and 70 innings at an average of 32.15 and a strike rate of 139.69, with two centuries and 13 fifties. He is the only player besides Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis (two each) to have multiple T20I centuries.
This year in 14 T20Is, Hope has scored 494 runs in 14 innings at an average of 44.91 and a strike rate of 145.72, with a century and four fifties and a best score of 102*.
Overall in T20S, Hope has scored 6,246 runs in 232 matches and 227 innings at an average of 31.86 and a strike rate of 129.63, with five centuries and 32 fifties and a best score of 118*.
Coming to the match, WI won the toss and opted to bowl first. Knocks from Sanju Samson (82 in 41 balls, with nine fours and four sixes), Ishan Kishan (43 in 22 balls, with six fours and two sixes), Tilak Verma (44* in 18 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (40 in 18 balls, with three fours and three sixes) took India to 249/5 in 20 overs.
Even though India had WI down at 58/3 in 5.1 overs, Hope (102* in 45 balls, with six fours and nine sixes), Sherfane Rutherford (84 in 37 balls, with seven fours and seven sixes) and Romario Shepherd (34* in 13 balls, with three fours and three sixes) helped WI chase down the target in 18.3 overs with six wickets in hand.
The 501 runs scored is the second-highest aggregate in a T20I match, next to 517 scored by WI and South Africa at Centurion in 2023. Also, the boundary count of 79 (46 fours and 33 sixes) was the third-highest in a T20I, was the third-best in a T20I match, with 81 (46 fours and 35 sixes) between SA and WI in 2023 being the highest. (ANI)
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