Shai Hope's 45-ball century stuns India as West Indies complete record 250 chase in Ranchi

Captain Shai Hope blazed an unbeaten 102 off just 45 balls as the West Indies pulled off the highest successful chase in their Twenty20 International history, overhauling India's 249 for 5 by six wickets with nine balls to spare in Ranchi on Friday, 9 October 2026, to level the five-match series at 1-1.

Hope had won the toss at the JSCA International Stadium Complex and elected to field first, a call that seemed to have backfired spectacularly when India piled up their highest-ever T20I total against the West Indies. At the halfway stage, with the hosts safely parked at 249 for 5, the game appeared to have slipped away. Instead, the West Indies made light work of the 250-run target despite losing three wickets inside the powerplay.

Hope and Rutherford turn the match on its head

The chase looked doomed early. Mayank Yadav struck twice in the opening over of the innings and then dismissed Rovman Powell in the sixth over, leaving the West Indies floundering at 58 for 3.

Hope and Sherfane Rutherford then produced one of the great T20I rescue acts, adding 120 runs for the fourth wicket — the West Indies' highest stand for that position in the format, surpassing the 103 shared by Dwayne Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer.

Rutherford hammered 84 off 37 balls, while Hope marched to an unbeaten 102 off 45, sealing the historic win — and bringing up his century in the same stroke — by launching Axar Patel for six. In all, the West Indies slammed 20 sixes and 21 fours, plundering 204 of their runs through boundaries alone.

Samson rediscovers his touch, but India's total proves not enough

Earlier, Sanju Samson returned to form in emphatic fashion after four consecutive low scores, racing to a 21-ball half-century — his ninth in T20Is — and sharing a 97-run stand off just 43 balls with Ishan Kishan, who cracked six fours and two sixes in his 43 off 22. The pair rocketed India to 139 for 1 inside 11 overs at a run rate of more than 12.

West Indies off-spinner Roston Chase, however, broke the game open when he returned to the attack during the middle overs, taking two wickets in successive overs. Kishan and Shivam Dube — promoted to No. 4 — were both bowled attempting shots across the line, with Dube's promotion yielding only seven runs off 10 balls.

Samson's own innings ended in the 15th over, 18 runs short of a century, when his ramp shot over deep backward point went straight to Kamil Pooran. India lost three wickets for 23 runs during the middle overs, but skipper Shreyas Iyer kept the scoring rate up with a counter-attacking 40 off 18 balls, while Tilak Varma finished unbeaten on 44 off 18 to lift the hosts to 249 for 5 — a towering total at a ground where India's average first-innings score across four previous T20Is had been around 161.

Vindication for Hope after 'chaotic' verdict

The triumph was sweet vindication for Hope. After the series-opening defeat in Lucknow — where Iyer's 42-ball maiden T20I hundred had headlined India's win — Hope had branded his side's batting "chaotic" and admitted they were "a spinner short". The West Indies had even weighed a recall for spinner Gudakesh Motie before this match; on the night, it was Chase who did the damage with the ball.

"Chaotic" was Hope's damning verdict on the West Indies batting after Lucknow. In Ranchi on Friday, his 45-ball century and a record fourth-wicket stand delivered anything but.

The series is now level at 1-1, with three matches of the five-game contest remaining.