Hyderabad (Telangana): West Indies skipper Shai Hope continued the tour of his life, slamming his fourth century of the India tour, helping the Windies post 247/3 in the fourth T20I at Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Hope, who had slammed two centuries in the ODIs, a series they lost 2-1, has kept WI's hopes of levelling the series alive with his third T20I ton, the most by a West Indies batter. With his fourth ton and fifth fifty-plus score of the tour, Hope is leading the white-ball team from the front.
Put to bat first by India, West Indies openers skipper Shai Hope and Jewel Andrew gave their team a fine start. Jewel collected 17 runs off Arshdeep Singh's first over, hitting him for two fours and a six.
The third over by Mayank Yadav leaked 20 runs, with the express pacer conceding four off a wide ball, bowling a no ball and being hit for a six by skipper Hope. This was followed by leg byes for four and another wide, making it an over of extras.
In the next over, Hope smacked Prince Yadav for a six and a four, bringing up WI's 50-run mark in 3.3 overs.
Axar Patel, playing his 200th international match, struck right away, removing Jewel for a 16-ball 21, with two fours and a six, trapping him lbw. WI was 52/1 in 4.2 overs.
Arshdeep's final powerplay over released the pressure for WI as Shimron Hetmyer came all guns blazing with two fours and a six. The left-armer also bowled four leg byes and a wide, leaking 19 runs. WI was 79/1 at the powerplay end, with Hope (28*) and Hetmyer (17*) motoring along.
Hetmyer drilled Axar for two fours in the next over while the duo carted Naman Dhir for two sixes and a four in the eighth over, bringing up WI's 100-run mark in 7.4 overs. The duo also reached their 50-run stand in just 20 balls.
Prince produced a breakthrough, catching and removing Hetmyer for a quickfire 12-ball 33, with four boundaries and two sixes. WI was 110/2 in 8.2 overs.
Halfway through, WI was 118/2, with Hope (47*) joined by Rovman Powell (3*).
Including his two ODI tons, Hope reached his fifth fifty-plus score of the tour in 28 balls, with a six off Mayank Yadav down the ground. In the next over, Axar was carted for 22 runs, including two fours and two sixes each, bringing WI's 150-run mark in 12 overs. Rovman, out of form throughout the series, found his groove with two fours and a six.
However, Arshdeep produced a wicket just before the partnership could take off further, with Rovman nicking it to Sanju Samson behind the stumps for 24 in 17 balls. WI was 156/3 in 12.5 overs.
At the end of 15 overs, WI was 177/3, with Hope (76*) joined by Sherfane Rutherford (8*) unbeaten, with India stemming the run flow a bit.
The 17th over by Mayank leaked 22 runs, including two sixes and a four by Rutherford and a four by Hope, bringing WI to the 200-run mark in 16.4 overs. Mayank ended a poor day at work with 52 runs conceded in four overs.
Three wides from Arshdeep and a six over sightscreen in the next over added to India's troubles, as the left-armer leaked 11 more runs in the 18th over, ending with figures of 1/52.
WI ended their innings with Shai getting his fourth century of the tour, his second in the T20I leg. WI ended at 247/3, with Hope (102* in 50 balls, with four boundaries and nine sixes) and Sherfane (49* in 26 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) unbeaten.
Prince Yadav (1/36) was the pick of the bowlers for India.