Hope’s 102* and Paul’s five-for lift West Indies over India, series level at 2–2

Shai Hope, West Indies’ captain, was the centre of the night. He carried his bat for 102 not out from 50 balls, then watched Keemo Paul close out the match with a five-wicket haul that broke India’s late charge.

Hope’s hundred sets the tone

India captain Shreyas Iyer chose to field, a call that looked sound early before West Indies’ top order found its range. Jewel Andrew struck 21 before falling, but the innings never lost pace.

Hope kept the tempo high while partners came and went. Shimron Hetmyer’s 33 from 12 balls provided a jolt of power through the middle, and Sherfane Rutherford’s unbeaten 49 from 26 deliveries gave the finish the visitors wanted. The unbroken 91-run stand between Hope and Rutherford ensured West Indies crossed into the kind of total that forces risk from ball one.

After the match, Hope said the surface was “holding a bit more” and that bounce was uneven at times. In his view, “240 plus was a decent score”, and he framed the win as a chance to take the series in Bengaluru.

The century also extended Hope’s standout tour. He has now logged multiple match-defining innings in the series, and he joked about the practical problem of taking home his growing collection of awards: “To be honest, those (POTM trophies) were a bit heavy; we got to look at luggage weight.”

India’s reply began with intent rather than caution, the only way to keep a chase of this size within reach. Sanju Samson led the counterpunch, racing to 56 and putting West Indies’ bowlers under immediate pressure.

Tilak Varma added 43 as India tried to keep the asking rate from running away, but the chase repeatedly stalled when wickets fell at the wrong time. West Indies’ bowlers, who had been punished in patches across the tour, held their nerve better in the closing overs.

Paul’s 5 for 41 was the decisive spell. He mixed pace and length late in the innings, and said afterwards the group were “more pumped… more hyped”, while also pointing to the impact of Gudakesh Motie’s spell. Motie finished with 2 for 13, figures that mattered in a match where most bowlers were hit hard.

Iyer’s assessment was blunt. India, he said, “didn’t execute our line lengths well”, and he felt West Indies were sharper in the middle overs. Chasing 250, he added, demands a clear method, and he liked India’s approach even though the end result fell short.

For West Indies, the win carried a historical edge as well. It was the first time they have beaten India in India in a T20I while defending a total, after six previous attempts that ended without success.

Decider in Bengaluru

With the series locked at 2–2, the fifth T20I becomes a straight shootout. The teams meet again on 17 October at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The numbers across the series point to one clear theme: totals above 220 have stopped feeling safe. West Indies have twice crossed 240, India have already made 223 in the series, and the Hyderabad match again showed how quickly momentum can swing when a chasing side loses two wickets in a burst.

Hope said the victory in Hyderabad had set up a chance to take the series in Bengaluru. India, meanwhile, will look for cleaner bowling plans at the start and more control in the middle overs, the phase Iyer singled out as decisive.

One match remains, and neither side has been able to land a knockout punch for long.