West Indies produced one of the great T20 International run chases on October 9, overhauling India’s 249 for 5 in Ranchi with nine balls to spare, a result built on a stunning century from captain Shai Hope and a destructive 84 from Sherfane Rutherford. The chase of 253 for 4 is the second-highest successful run chase in men’s T20I history, behind only South Africa’s 259 for 4 against the same opponents, West Indies, at Centurion in 2023 — meaning West Indies now hold two of the format’s three largest successful chases, with the other coming against them rather than by them.
A rocky start that nearly derailed everything
The chase did not begin smoothly for the tourists. India’s Mayank Yadav struck twice in the very first over, removing Kamil Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer off consecutive deliveries to leave West Indies in early trouble against a target that already looked imposing after India’s innings. What followed, though, turned the match on its head: Hope and Rutherford came together and simply refused to let the required rate build any pressure.
Hope’s innings for the ages
Hope reached his century in just 45 balls, the headline act of the innings, punctuated by a six struck over wide long-on en route to three figures. He and Rutherford added 120 runs off just 54 balls before India’s Kuldeep Yadav finally broke the stand by removing Rutherford, who had made 84 off 37 balls. Rovman Powell then chipped in with a rapid 24 off 13 balls at a strike rate above 184 before Mayank struck again, but by that stage the required rate had been reduced to a formality, and Romario Shepherd — who had briefly left the field earlier in the match with a niggle — finished the chase unbeaten on 34 off just 13 balls.
India’s batting effort undone
None of this should obscure the fact that India batted well first, posting 249 for 5 — their highest T20I total ever against West Indies — behind contributions including an 82 from Sanju Samson, who used the innings to rediscover form after a lean recent run, 43 from Ishan Kishan, and a 33-ball blitz of 83 runs added between Shreyas Iyer (40) and Tilak Varma (44) at the death. Dew in the Ranchi evening air was also a factor, making the ball harder to grip for India’s bowlers in the second innings and, by India coach Gautam Gambhir’s own admission afterward, playing a role in how the chase unfolded.
Gambhir’s honest reckoning
Speaking after the match, Gambhir did not look for excuses, praising the opposition directly: he called West Indies’ batters “world-class… especially in this format,” and added that the team would examine where the defense of 249 went wrong, saying pointedly that India would not simply “shrug off” the defeat. It was a rare public acknowledgment from an Indian coaching staff that an opponent had simply outplayed them on the night.
Context: a series already building a reputation
The result leveled the three-match T20I series 1-1, after India had won the opener in Lucknow by eight wickets, and it continued a pattern that has defined West Indies’ white-ball tour of India more broadly — a side capable of extraordinary, record-setting batting performances, having also chased a world-record 352 earlier in the tour’s ODI leg. For a team that has often struggled for consistency in global tournaments in recent years, this tour has offered a rare glimpse of exactly how dangerous their batting lineup can be when Hope, Hetmyer, Pooran and Rutherford all click in the same innings.
What’s next
The series moved to Indore for the third T20I on October 11, where India regained the ascendancy with a 14-run win, before matches in Hyderabad on October 14 and a decider in Bengaluru on October 17. Whatever happens in those final two fixtures, Hope’s innings in Ranchi is likely to be remembered as one of the defining individual performances of the white-ball calendar this year — a reminder that even a target in excess of 12 runs an over for long stretches is no longer safe with this West Indies top order in form.
Photo: Lorien le Poer Trench / PEXELS via Pexels