Nobody had chased more than 155 in Ranchi, and Shai Hope’s hundred took West Indies past 249

Before Friday, no side had chased more than 155 to win a T20I in Ranchi. West Indies needed 250. They got there with nine balls to spare, Shai Hope unbeaten on 102 from 45 balls, and the five-match series is level at 1-1.

It is the highest successful chase West Indies have ever made in T20Is, and the second-highest by anyone in the men’s game. Only South Africa’s 259 against West Indies at Centurion in 2023 is bigger. It also ends India’s T20I winning run, which went back to their defeat to England in Southampton on 11 July.

Samson’s 82 and a total that should have been enough

Hope won the toss and bowled, and for 20 overs that looked like the wrong call. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma had 42 on the board inside four overs before Roston Chase removed Abhishek for 20. Samson kept going, with Ishan Kishan making 43 from 22 at the other end. Samson’s 82 came off 41 balls, with nine fours and four sixes, before Shamar Springer had him caught.

Chase was the one bowler who held his nerve. He bowled Kishan and Shivam Dube as well, and finished with 3 for 24 from his four overs. India were 162 for 4 when Samson fell, and Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma then added 83 in little more than five overs. Iyer hit three sixes in his 40 from 18 and was caught off the penultimate ball. Tilak finished on 44 not out, also from 18. India’s 249 for 5 is their highest T20I total against West Indies.

Two down in the first over

For one over, the chase looked absurd. Mayank Yadav removed Kamil Pooran and then Shimron Hetmyer with the next ball. Rovman Powell hit 24 from 13 before Mayank bowled him too, and West Indies were three down inside six overs.

“Five for two was always going to be challenging,” Hope said afterwards. He added that when you chase in India, “you always give yourself a chance.”

Sherfane Rutherford gave him one. He was on 38 when Mayank put down a straightforward catch at short fine leg, and India paid for it. Rutherford and Hope added 120 for the fourth wicket, and by the time Kuldeep Yadav finally removed Rutherford for 84 off 37 balls, the asking rate had stopped being a problem. Romario Shepherd then hit 34 not out from 13 to finish it alongside his captain.

Hope again

This is the second time in a week Hope has taken a huge chase away from India. In the ODIs he made 162 not out in Mullanpur as West Indies chased 352, their highest successful ODI chase. His Ranchi hundred, with nine sixes and six fours, is his second in T20Is.

India’s worry is the bowling. Even Springer, who took two wickets, went for 64 in his four overs, so 249 was never safe on this surface. But India had West Indies three down inside six overs, and a dropped catch on 38 followed by a long stretch without a wicket handed the game back. Mayank finished with 3 for 36 from three overs and never bowled a fourth, which I’d expect Iyer to think about before Indore.

The third T20I is in Indore on Sunday, 11 October.

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