West Indies 247 for 3 (Hope 102, Rutherford 49, Prince 1-36) beat India 223 (Samson 56, Paul 5-41, Motie 2-13) by 24 runs
Shai Hope has now stayed unbeaten three times on this tour of India, and remarkably, those are the exact three matches that the West Indies have won. Their latest victory in Hyderabad has forced a tense, winner-takes-all series decider in what is rapidly proving to be a landmark Twenty20 International series for the Caribbean side.
In a match brimming with historic milestones, Hope carved his name into the record books by becoming the first West Indies player to score three T20I centuries. He found substantial support as every other batter who reached the crease contributed between 21 and 49 runs. Meanwhile, Keemo Paul etched his own piece of history by becoming the first West Indies bowler to claim multiple five-wicket hauls in T20I cricket, steering the tourists to their first successful defence of the tour.
It remains a striking testament to the relentless hitting prowess of modern international batters that a staggering 470 runs were scored on the night, even though the pitch offered genuine assistance to the bowling attacks in both innings. On a relaid Hyderabad surface that played quite dry, India initially managed to slow the West Indies down by using some tail on the ball. However, the visitors adapted intelligently to the conditions. They opted to exploit the dry pitch differently, digging the ball into the surface and utilizing the absence of dew alongside the expansive square boundaries to survive an early, blistering assault from Sanju Samson, who raced to 56 off just 23 deliveries.
After India had raced out of the blocks to reach 50 without loss in a mere three overs, the West Indies bowling and fielding unit demonstrated admirable composure. They strung together 12 consecutive overs that cost 13 runs or fewer, stifling India’s momentum. Crucially, for the first time in the series, the West Indies held onto every single catch that came their way. Paul’s five-wicket haul, complemented by a brilliant double-wicket over from Gudakesh Motie, provided the decisive blows in a game of fine margins.
Hope Has Help
For the first time in this ongoing series, Hope did not have to shoulder the entire burden of scoring at the top of the innings. Jewel Andrew, brought into the starting lineup in place of Kamil Pooran, immediately made his intentions clear by getting stuck into Arshdeep Singh’s opening over, effectively neutralizing the bowler who had tied Hope down in the third T20I. Hope swiftly returned the favor at the other end by taking down Mayank Yadav, who had otherwise bowled a tidy and disciplined first over to Andrew.
Shimron Hetmyer then joined the party, racing away to 17 runs off just 5 balls to propel the West Indies score to 79 for 1 inside the powerplay, leaving Arshdeep’s early figures looking bruised at 2-0-36-0. When Hope ruthlessly took 19 runs off Naman Dhir’s very first over, pushing the total to 109 for 1 in the eighth over, India suddenly found themselves in a world of trouble.
A brief period of consolidation and scoring slowdown ensued as Prince Yadav made the breakthrough by removing Hetmyer, aided by the ball beginning to reverse swing just a fraction. Rovman Powell, who had endured three low scores previously in the series, sensibly gave himself some time to settle at the crease. He eventually found his timing and momentum by dispatching Axar Patel for a four, a six, and another four in the spinner’s final over. Nevertheless, as the match drifted into the death overs, the preceding eight overs had yielded just 76 runs for the West Indies as India shrewdly stuck to bowling wide yorkers, willingly conceding extra runs through wides to protect the boundary.
Sherfane Rutherford then seized control during Mayank’s final over, allowing Hope to find a vital second wind just in time. Hope dispatched the last two deliveries of the innings over the boundary for consecutive sixes, vaulting his score from 90 to an unbeaten 102 off 50 balls. All told, India leaked 62 runs in the final four overs, despite not necessarily bowling poorly.
Samson in the Mood
Initially, it appeared as though Sanju Samson’s primary objective was simply to shield Abhishek Sharma from the threat of Roston Chase. However, that tactical choice quickly transformed into a silken yet devastating half-century inside the third over of the run chase. Abhishek faced a mere three deliveries across the first three overs while Samson wreaked havoc, clubbing four towering sixes and six elegant boundaries. At that stage, it looked entirely plausible that India would comfortably join the West Indies in pulling off their highest successful chase in both white-ball formats during this series.
Better Call Paul
It ultimately required a moment of exceptional brilliance in the field to spark a dramatic turnaround for the visitors—a refreshing and welcome change following a largely ordinary series in the field for most of the players. Paul cramped Samson up with a sharp short delivery, and though the batter still managed to generate a very good connection on his trademark hook shot, Hetmyer was waiting in the deep. Hetmyer took a brilliant catch, tossed the ball calmly into the air as his momentum threatened to carry him over the boundary cushions, and successfully stepped back inside the field of play to complete the dismissal.
Ishan Kishan attempted to swing the momentum back toward India by starting his innings with a sweetly timed six off a slower delivery, but he failed to time the subsequent on-pace ball, holing out cheaply to deep midwicket.
Through clever bowling changes and clever alterations of pace, the West Indies successfully tied down both Abhishek and Shreyas Iyer. While that containment is described relatively—given that the pair still managed to stitch together 30 runs in 3.4 overs—in the context of a high-stakes run chase, it proved profoundly damaging to India’s prospects.
A pivotal moment arrived when Hope decided he could no longer delay the introduction of Motie into the attack, despite the presence of two aggressive left-handed batters occupying the crease. India at that point required 122 runs from the last nine overs. Abhishek immediately attacked, dispatching the first delivery for a boundary. The pressure was mounting significantly, but the pitch continued to offer adequate grip, enabling Motie to induce a mishit from Abhishek that resulted in a comfortable catch at long-off. Motie followed that up with a delivery that beat Naman Dhir entirely, having him stumped for a golden duck.
Romario Shepherds West Indies Home
With the scorecard reading 132 for 5, the match morphed into a stern test of the batting depth that India’s team management so frequently emphasizes. Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy were forced to graft hard simply to keep their side alive in the contest. However, a wayward and expensive 16th over bowled by Shamar Joseph completely reopened the door for India. Reddy launched two massive sixes in an over that cost 21 runs, leaving India needing 59 runs from the final four overs—ironically fewer than the runs the West Indies had managed during their own death-over surge.
Romario Shepherd, returning to the side after missing the previous match due to an injury, attempted to start the 17th over with a precise yorker. Instead, Tilak punished the low full toss by smashing it cleanly over the ropes for a six. Shepherd spent the remainder of the over alternating between digging the ball into the surface and deploying a yorker as a surprise variation, ultimately ending the over by inducing a high-flying top-edge from Tilak to decisively shift the momentum back toward the Caribbean side.
Shamar Springer then executed the 18th over with expert precision, effectively pushing the target beyond India’s reach, before Paul returned for the 19th over to claim three more wickets. The match drew to a premature and painful close when a delivery struck Arshdeep on the bicep, with India wisely opting not to expose him to any further physical risk.
Comments (0)