Shai Hope took a cheeky dig at the Indian ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill after the West Indies captain led from the front in the second T20I in Ranchi on Friday. Having lost the first T20I in Lucknow, West Indies were under tremendous pressure to level the series. Hope played a captain’s knock as he led West Indies to with a 102 not out off just 45 deliveries to chase down India’s 249/5 with nine balls to spare and level the series 1-1.
Following the win, Hope took to Instagram and posted a picture of himself, with a caption reading, “250? Cool”. It was a clear dig to earlier post during the ODI series when India chased down West Indies’ 400-plus total at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on September 30.
In that second ODI, West Indies rode on hundreds from John Campbell (101), (104) and Amir Jangoo (114) to post a mammoth 405/7 in 50 overs while batting first. In reply, Shubman led India from the front with an unbeaten 223 from 133 deliveries and Rohit Sharma’s 101 to romp home with 6.3 overs – 39 balls – to spare.
Following that win, took to Instagram and posted a picture of himself celebrating his hundred. He had captioned the post, “406? cool.”
Earlier, Hope and Sherfane Rutherford struck blazing knocks as the West Indies recorded the second-highest T20I chase of all time against India. After India posted 249/5, the West Indies rode on a 120-run fourth-wicket partnership between Hope and Rutherford (84) to achieve the target.
Hope completed the win with the ninth six of his innings and one that brought up his century off 45 balls, as the West Indies bounced back to level the five-match series at 1-1. South Africa hold the record for the highest successful run chase in men’s T20Is, scoring 259/4 against the West Indies in Centurion in 2023.
West Indies’ previous best chase was when they overhauled 231 by South Africa in Johannesburg in 2015. Hope and the left-handed Rutherford led an aggressive counter-attack after joining forces with the West Indies 58-3.
Rutherford reached his fifty off 24 balls and kept up the charge before falling to left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. He hit seven fours and seven sixes in his 37-ball blitz. Hope, who struck his second T20I ton, stood firm and put on an unbeaten stand of 74 with (34).
Speaking after the match, Hope highlighted the difficulty of bowling in the conditions and credited Chase for restricting the scoring rate in the first innings. “Amazing. On a surface and a field like this, to go out six runs and over is unbelievable. So he really kept us in the game.
“It was very difficult conditions to bowl on, so the way he bowled and kept us in the game made it a lot easier for us to chase that score,” he said. Hope, who also won the Player of the Match award for his century, said West Indies knew the chase would be challenging after slipping to 5/2.
“It’s going to be a tough chase, but once you chase here in India, you always give yourself a challenge. You always think you’re in the game, regardless of what score is on the board, but 5 for 2 is always going to be challenging,” added Hope when asked about the mindset at 5/2 while chasing.
