Shai Hope Hits a Hundred as West Indies Chase Down 250 in Ranchi, Samson's 82 in Vain

West Indies chased down a target of 250 with nine balls to spare in Ranchi on Friday night, beating India by six wickets in the second T20I to level the five-match series at 1-1. They finished on 252/4 in 18.3 overs. Shai Hope, the West Indies captain, was unbeaten on a century and was named player of the match.

West Indies won the toss and chose to field, and India made the most of the first innings. Abhishek Sharma went for 20 off 12 balls with the score on 42, but Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan added quickly after that. Kishan made 43 off 22 balls before Roston Chase bowled him with the score on 139 in the 11th over.

Samson was the centre of the innings, scoring 82 off 41 balls with nine fours and four sixes. He was caught by Kamil Pooran off Shamar Springer at 162/4 in the 15th over, with India still on a strong footing. Shreyas Iyer then hit 40 off 18 balls and Tilak Varma finished unbeaten on 44 off 18, taking India to 249/5. Chase took three wickets and Springer two.

West Indies were 72/3 after the six-over powerplay, which left plenty to do against a target of 250, but they kept scoring at around 12 an over or better. They were 171/3 after 13.1 overs, still needing 79 off 41 balls, and 226/4 after 17.3 overs, needing 25 off 16.

Sherfane Rutherford played a fast innings that ended when Samson took a good catch, but Hope stayed in, reached his hundred and finished the chase in the 19th over. It is among the highest successful chases in T20I history.

The series is level at 1-1 after India won the opener by eight wickets in Lucknow. The third T20I is at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday 11 October at 7:00 PM IST, followed by Hyderabad on 14 October and Bengaluru on 17 October.