Hope stars with ton as West Indies chase down 250 to topple India in second T20

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/india-fcOzl2uI/west-indies-jTD1lMfO/?mid=AR6GtrWF"]Chasing a daunting target[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-indies/jTD1lMfO/"]West Indies[/a] were rocked early ‌when paceman Mayank Yadav removed Kamil Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer ‌with successive deliveries in the opening over and later dismissed Rovman ‌Powell for 24.[/p][p][b]"But when you chase here in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/india/fcOzl2uI/"]India[/a], you ‌always give yourself a chance. You always think you're in the game, regardless of what score is on the board,"[/b] Hope said.[/p][p][b]"But five for ‌two was always going to be challenging."[/b][/p][embed guid="c5d2e574-a4e9-433a-9a10-f5fcba03ffe2" url="https://x.com/windiescricket/status/2108608568698044854" social-type="twitter" /][p]Skipper ⁠Hope and Sherfane Rutherford turned the ‌match on its head with a blistering 120-run partnership for the fourth ​wicket.[/p][p]Rutherford survived on 38 when Yadav spilt a straightforward chance at short fine leg and capitalised on the ​reprieve, hammering 84 off 37 balls before falling to Kuldeep Yadav.[/p][p]Hope remained unfazed, anchoring the chase while maintaining the required rate, ⁠and combined with Romario ​Shepherd to guide West Indies home with nine balls to spare. Hope remained unbeaten on 102 from 45 deliveries.[/p][p][b]"When we got that partnership there, we just got some more impetus in the innings,"[/b] ‌Hope said.[/p][p][b]"Then obviously Sherfane came and did what he did, played really well with the bat, and just gave us that spark that we needed to get over the line today."[/b][/p][embed guid="b113c570-003b-44e0-b759-dbaa8a29b45f" url="https://x.com/windiescricket/status/2108609276381938004" social-type="twitter" /][p]This is the second-highest successful run chase in men's T20 international history, surpassed only by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/tUhlKzIm/"]South Africa[/a]'s pursuit of 259 against West Indies in 2023.[/p][p]Earlier, Samson's 41-ball 82 underpinned India's total after he and Abhishek Sharma raced to 42 in less than four ‌overs for the opening wicket.[/p][p]Chase halted the early surge by dismissing ​Sharma and later removed Kishan for 43 and Shivam ‌Dube, while Shamar Springer struck with the key wicket of Samson.[/p][p]India accelerated again at the death through Iyer and Tilak Varma, who put on 83 runs from 32 balls, with Iyer making 40 before falling off the penultimate delivery ⁠as the hosts finished on ⁠249-5.[/p][p]The teams meet again ⁠in the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/india-fcOzl2uI/west-indies-jTD1lMfO/?mid=IiAOvM0S"]third ‌T20 in Indore on Sunday[/a].[/p]