The freshly relaid pitch in Hyderabad had captains Shreyas Iyer and Shai Hope in a bit of a dilemma. However, Hope, riding on his supreme form, not just adjusted well to the surface to smash an unbeaten 102 (off 50 balls), but also marshalled his troops well to help the West Indies register a series-levelling 24-run win in the fourth T20I on Wednesday.
This was Hope’s second hundred in the series and third in T20Is.
The visitors, put into bat, posted a formidable 247/3 with Shimron Hetmyer (33 off 14 balls) and Sherfane Rutherford (49 not out off 26 balls) also contributing.
Dew wasn’t a factor, and West Indies made full use of excellent batting conditions. The West Indies quicks — led by Keemo Paul (5/41), who took his second five-for in T20Is — then did well to minimise their unforced errors. There was also a game-changing spell from left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie (2/13 in 2 overs), as India were restricted to 223/9 in 19.3 overs.
Arshdeep Singh, expensive earlier, retired hurt after being hit on the left shoulder by a short ball from Shamar Joseph in the final over of the innings. With the series all square at 2-2, India would seriously hope their ace left-arm pacer recovers ahead of the decider in Bengaluru on Saturday.
If India were to register this record chase, they needed a rousing start on Wednesday. Sanju Samson (56 off 23 balls) ensured that happened with his range of strokes on both sides of the wicket which helped India storm to 60/0 in four overs.
That’s when Keemo struck. The medium pacer, despite bowling as many as five wides, had the rub of the green going his way and dismissed both Samson and Ishan Kishan in the fifth over. Fortunately for Keemo, both batters found fielders in the deep, which gave the Windies the momentum they required.
The in-form Abhishek Sharma, who got very little strike in the first five overs of the chase, struggled despite his knowledge of the conditions. He is a member of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
To make matters tougher for India, skipper Shreyas too perished a little later as pressure began to mount on the hosts.
A lot relied on Abhishek and Tilak Varma then. But Motie, after being hit for a four by Abhishek, accounted for the opener almost immediately after and had Naman Dhir stumped off the very next ball. That double blow in the 12th over severely dented India’s prospects.
Still, Tilak, who had dropped Hope off the final ball of the Windies innings — allowing him a six to complete his century — and Nitish Kumar Reddy made one last-ditch effort, thanks to some freebies on offer by Joseph in particular. But this was one occasion when the Windies bowlers didn’t panic.
Romario Shepherd, returning in the XI, got the better of Tilak on the last ball of the 17th over before Keemo picked up Reddy in the 19th. That practically handed the game to the West Indies, who were quite diligent with the bat as well.