Photo: Collected
West Indies have beaten India by 6 wickets in the second match of the five-match T20 series. The foundation of this superb win, achieved by scaling a mountain of runs, was captain Shai Hope’s unbeaten century, along with Sherfane Rutherford’s rampage. The two teams together scored 501 runs in the match.
The game was played on Friday (9 October) at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. The Caribbeans got past the target of 250 runs with 9 balls to spare. With that, the series is back level at 1-1.
After the toss India batted first; in the allotted 20 overs they built a huge total of 249 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson raised a storm for the team, his 82 runs coming off just 41 balls, with the help of 9 fours and 4 sixes. Tilak Varma (44), Ishan Kishan (43) and captain Shreyas Iyer (40) also contributed to the big total.
Roston Chase was the most successful of the Caribbean bowlers; he took 3 wickets, conceding just 24 runs in 4 overs. Shamar Springer claimed 2 wickets but gave away 64 runs in 4 overs.
Coming out to bat in pursuit of the huge target of 250 runs, West Indies had fallen into trouble right at the start. In the very first over, with just 5 runs on the board, Kyle Mayers and Shimron Hetmyer were dismissed. To absorb that blow Rovman Powell joined captain Hope; the pair put on 53 runs for the third wicket. When Mayank Yadav removed Powell in the sixth over, the Caribbeans came under pressure, having lost 3 wickets for 58 runs.
From there Hope and Sherfane Rutherford changed the picture of the match completely. A devastating partnership of 120 runs for the fourth wicket came from their bats in just 9 overs. Rutherford was the more aggressive of the two; he hit 7 fours and 7 sixes in a blistering innings of 84 runs off just 37 balls. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed him off the first ball of the 16th over, but by then the foundation for victory had been laid.
After Rutherford’s dismissal, all-rounder Romario Shepherd came to the crease. Together with captain Hope, he tore into the Indian bowlers. Towards the end the two gave the team an unbelievable win with an unbroken partnership of 74 runs off just 26 balls. Hope remained unbeaten on 102 runs; hitting 9 fours and 6 sixes in a 45-ball innings, he also won the player-of-the-match award. Shepherd’s unbeaten 34 runs came off just 13 balls. There were 6 boundaries in his innings, 3 of them sixes.
India’s Mayank Yadav took 3 wickets for 36 runs. Kuldeep Yadav, who got one wicket, conceded 53 runs in his 4 overs. After the five-match T20 series was levelled at 1-1, the two teams will face each other in the third match next Sunday, at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.
