Hope ton, Paul fifer force series decider in Bengaluru

The newly laid Hyderabad pitch laid out another run-filled story, but West Indies’ bowlers snatched control at separate points in India’s pursuit of 247, giving a rare win for a team defending a total on this tour.

It couldn’t be done without another Shai Hope century, which outmuscled the disjointed cameos of Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Nitish Reddy. Later, Keemo Paul’s clever changeups at the back end derailed India’s chase. His five-fer, and Gudakesh Motie’s restrictive spell, pushed the series into a decider in Bengaluru.

Put in to bat, Hope paired up with Jewel Andrew, back from injury, against an unchanged Indian side. The teenager kickstarted West Indies’ boundary fest, crunching a clean six off Arshdeep Singh’s second ball. A 17-run over set the tempo, and Hope quickly leaned into his red-hot form to unfurl his fourth ton of this tour.

Mayank Yadav tried to pepper them with early pace, but overdid it at times: one particular bouncer flew over Samson’s head. With a patchy outfield, West Indies relied heavily on clearing the boundary, racing to 79 for 1 – their highest T20I Powerplay score against India. Hope was ruthless to anything too full and hittable, accessing the ‘V’ like he always does, and using his wrists and timing to hoick balls on the leg-side.

Axar Patel’s entry in the Powerplay gave India a breakthrough, but Shimron Hetmyer took little time to get going, picking out an under-the-pump Arshdeep Singh’s slot offerings. Naman Dhir, among the wickets so far, ran into a negative matchup against Hope, giving 19 runs in his solitary over.

A highlight for West Indies was how incoming batters did not let the existing tempo dip. Prince Yadav surprised Hetmyer with a crafty bouncer, but Rovman Powell quickly played his part in a 22-run Axar over. By the time Sherfane Rutherford came in, Hope had already raced to 75. The left-hander tore into Mayank’s final spell, taking 22 runs as West Indies flew past 200. Mayank would later mess up a Rutherford catch, as would Tilak off the final ball, unable to sight a straight hit that gave Hope a century off the final ball.

Samson began the chase with a straight hit over Roston Chase’s head, and almost single-handedly took over the Powerplay as Abhishek Sharma barely got the strike. Chase gave 25 runs from his second over: by the third over of the innings, India had raced to 50/0.

But, on a dry surface with no dew, West Indies’ seamers applied themselves better, changing the pace to keep India’s assault in check. Paul struck off his first ball, a short ball combined with smart field placement to give India their first setback. Three balls later, Ishan Kishan fell trying to repeat a six

Abhishek Sharma, deprived of strike, couldn’t really get going, and scratched his way to 29 off 24. That, combined with Shreyas Iyer’s 16 off 11, and Naman Dhir’s first-ball duck, stagnated India in the middle. Contrary to the West Indies, India’s batters couldn’t capitalise on the short balls by pacers, eventually managing just 32 off 31 at that length. Iyer and Hope later noted the pitch held up a bit, along with the odd bounce.

Tilak Varma and Nitish Reddy adjusted well to forge a recovery, putting together 70 runs in 5.2 overs, but the late surge fell through when both departed, leaving India’s tail with a mountain to climb.

This was the first time West Indies defeated India in India while defending a total in T20Is, after six failed attempts.

Brief scores: West Indies 247/3 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 102*, Sherfane Rutherford 49; Prince Yadav 1-36, Axar Patel 1-45) beat India 223/9 in 19.3 overs (Sanju Samson 56, Tilak Varma 43; Keemo Paul 5-41, Gudakesh Motie 2-13) by 24 runs.