The West Indies delivered an impressive batting display against India during the fourth T20 International that was played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. West Indian captain Shai Hope contributed with an exceptional century as his side managed to score 247/3 runs in 20 overs.
India won the toss and decided to field first, intending to limit the visiting team to a modest score.
But the West Indian batsmen were aggressive throughout the innings, capitalizing on the scoring chances and putting pressure on the Indian bowlers.
The game was of particular significance for India since the team went into the fourth T20I series ahead of the series by a scoreline of 2-1.
India had already won the first match in Lucknow and the third match in Indore, while West Indies won the second match in Ranchi.
Hope played the best innings of the series with an unbeaten 102-run knock off just 50 balls. The innings was marked by the combination of controlled stroke play with the power hits, which helped the West Indies to maintain an impressive scoring rate throughout the game.
The West Indies skipper hit four fours and nine sixes in his innings, indicating his capability of finding gaps and hitting boundary consistently. However, unlike many batters who only focus on attacking shots, Hope successfully rotated strike in the game and built his innings based on consistent scoring.
The hundred was even more important for him, as he had also scored a hundred in the second T20I against India in Ranchi. Scoring a hundred in the same series made Hope one of the best players in the series.
His hundred also made him the first West Indies batter to score three centuries in men's T20 internationals. His innings indicated the increasing importance of the player in the batting lineup of his team.
Hope stayed in the crease till the last ball of the innings.
Though Hope had a great innings for the side, a number of other players also managed to score some valuable runs for their team.
Shimron Hetmyer had a great aggressive innings where he managed to score 33 runs off just 12 balls. This helped West Indies gain momentum in the middle overs as well as increase the pressure on India's bowlers.
He targeted the scoring options rather than letting the bowlers get set in his innings. It was very helpful for the side in continuing with its momentum along with Hope's innings.
Another key player for West Indies was Rovman Powell who scored 24 runs from 17 balls. He helped West Indies continue with their steady flow of scoring while Hope kept on building his innings.
Finally, Sherfane Rutherford was another player who helped West Indies towards the end of their innings. It was due to his aggressive approach that the visitors were able to conclude their innings well after a good one.
In the top-order, Jewel Andrew scored 21 runs off 16 balls before getting out by Axar Patel. Though it wasn't a big innings for Andrew but still he made sure to provide good start for West Indies.
It was not easy for India’s bowlers to check the batting prowess of West Indies team. The visiting players kept on scoring boundaries and made it hard for India to control the run rate.
Each of Mayank Yadav and Arshdeep Singh gave away 52 runs in their four-over spells, which was an indication of pressure that had been exerted by the aggressive batting especially in the middle and last over.
Axar Patel brought India a break through by getting Jewel Andrew out. While debutant Prince Yadav got Hetmyer out, Arshdeep Singh got Powell out.
Even though India managed to dismiss three players, they failed to stop Hope and Rutherford from keeping up their scoring rate. It was not easy for India’s bowlers to come up with line, length, and variation to check the batters.
The innings was a good example of how tough T20 cricket is made by the players when they hit boundaries with aggressive partnerships. Even after dismissing some players, West Indies managed to score at a fast pace and ended with a total of 247/3.
The fourth T20I is one of the five T20I matches between India and West Indies. Both the teams have made some exciting appearances during the first three matches played between them.
India defeated West Indies in the first T20I in Lucknow by eight wickets having chased the West Indies score of 171. The West Indians hit back in Ranchi, where they chased India's score of 249/5 to win the match by six wickets. India then came up with a strong performance in Indore where they scored 223/5 to beat West Indies by 14 runs.
It was clear that there would be an exciting match between two teams that possess excellent batting prowess. The fourth T20I brought another brilliant individual performance from Hope against India's bowling attack.
The fifth and last T20I is set to be played in Bengaluru on October 17, 2026.
