West Indies left-handed batsman, Shimron Hetmyer, made a sensational century as West Indies chased down a challenging target to win by eight wickets with 13 balls to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against India.
Hetmyer played shots to all parts of the ground as he smashed 139 off just 106 balls – his fifth century and highest score in his 40th match. In a stunning display of power-hitting he struck 11 fours and seven sixes – including an enormous straight hit which landed on the roof of the Madras Cricket Club. He reached the milestone off 85 balls with eight fours and four sixes. It was his second century against India – the other came 14 months ago in Guwahati when he made 106 off 78 balls.
Opener Shai Hope played an equally vital knock of 102 not out off 151 balls, with seven fours and a straight six. It was the eighth century for the wicket-keeper/batsman and second in as many matches following his unbeaten 109 against Afghanistan in Lucknow last month. It was also his second century against India in India and fourth this year – he is now the third-highest run-scorer for 2019 with 1,225 runs at an average of 61.25.
“I enjoy batting with Shai… we always bat well together. Today we just decided to take the game as a deep as possible and things worked really well in our favor. He hit the gaps and we ran hard between the wickets… we rotated the strike well and maintained the momentum,” Hetmyer said. “This is my highest score for the West Indies and it came in a run-chase and we won the match so I would say ‘yes’ this is my best innings so far. We’re happy with 1-0, we move on now and will look to get a second win and move 2-0 up.”
Hetmyer and Hope added 218 runs off 208 balls to set-up the result. It was just three runs short of the all-time West Indies record for the second wicket against India established by Sir Vivian Richards (149) and Gordon Greenidge (115), 33 years ago in Jamshedpur in December 1983. After Hetmyer fell aiming for another maximum, Nicholas Pooran scored 29 not out off 23 balls with four boundaries.
Match scores: India 287-8 off 50 overs (Rishabh Pant 71, Shreyas Iyer 70, Kedar Jadhav 40; Keemo Paul 2-41, Alzarri Joseph 2-45, Sheldon Cottrell 2-46) West Indies 291-2 off 47.5 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 139, Shai Hope 102 not out, Nicholas Pooran 29 not out)
The match was the 131st contest between the two teams. West Indies now have 63 wins, India 62 with two tied and four no results. On Indian soil, they have met 56 times with West Indies on 28 wins, India on 27 wins, with one tie.
The second match will be played on Wednesday starting at 4 am Eastern Caribbean Time and the third ODI encounter will be played on Sunday, December 22.
India won the T20 International series which preceded the ODIs, 2-1.
We cannot continue with the same old same old mentality and expect to succeed. They changed from Cameron Mano, changed coach, selectors and captain and so far, we are 4/0 in ODI ‘s. Keep it up guy’s! That’s what those fools should do instead of keeping a failed Skerrit and DLP for 20 years. Buda poultry finish. Dominica will go nowhere and what we did on December 6 2019, was a six foot nail we put in Dominica coffin, thanks to Skerrit, Savarin, carbon and foreigners like Gaston Brown, Ralph Gonzales, Peter Wickham and the same gang that helped Dave Cameron and Emanuel Nanthan bring West Indies cricket to ICU.
Kudos Fellas!!! it is not easy for a visiting team to win in any format on the Sub-Continent, especially against this star studded outfit who may well be best Indian team ever.
The abundant talent pool of cricketers across our region is beginning to pay dividend. Let us hope that is a true sign of greater success to come for the West Indies.
Congratulations to the West Indies for the victory 👋👋👋
More than the victory, the way they played showed a greater degree of intelligence than I have seen in a while. If the players just used their heads more, the team would be much higher up in the rankings. The team has talent, but more often than not, they don’t bring their brains to the game.
DNO first of three, ODI matches!!!!
Well done WI, but my problem is consistency!!!
Let’s see what happens in matches 3 and 4!!!
Matches 2 and 3.
Good job …
Keep it up guys make us proud …