The fifth ball of the second over of the West Indies innings was pivotal.
Shai Hope tried to launch a full-length delivery from India’s ace left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh down the ground for a straight six. It was an error in execution, Hope missed and his middle stump was uprooted. It was a bad start for the Windies in pursuit of victory in the third T20 International, yesterday.
The moment brought out the loudest cheers of the day for the full-house crowd of over 50 000 at the Holkar Cricket Ground in Ranchi. A few days ago, Hope made an outrageously brilliant century to beat India and hometown fans recognised it was a major dent in the West Indies batting hopes. The visiting captain and talisman departed early with the score on seven for one.
West Indies were then restricted to 209 for seven off their 20 overs and fell 14 runs short of India’s 223 for nine. It gave the home team a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. West Indies beat India in the second T20 by six wickets in Ranchi on Friday after their highest successful T20I run chase after India won the series opener by eight wickets in Lucknow.
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