Centurion Shai Hope equals this T20I record of Kohli, SKY
What's the story
West Indies captain Shai Hope has broken a series of records with his third hundred in T20I cricket. In the fourth T20I match against India in Hyderabad, Hope scored an unbeaten 102 off just 50 balls. Hope's stellar performance helped West Indies set a target of 248 runs for India. The visitors later won this contest by 24 runs. Meanwhile, Hope equaled an elite T20I record, also held by Indian great Virat Kohli, with this knock. Here are further details.
Record achievement
Three 50-plus score of this series
Hope's century also put him on the same pedestal as Kohli, his compatriot Suryakumar Yadav, and Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan.
These are the only captains from a Test-playing nation to register three scores of 50 or more in a bilateral T20I series.
However, Hope is the first captain to achieve this feat away from home.
The star batter hammered a 37-ball 52 in the series opener and followed it up with an unbeaten 102* apiece in Ranchi and Hyderabad.
SKY and Kohli
When Kohli and SKY made their bat talk
Kohli was the first skipper to hammer three such scores in a bilateral T20I series.
He hammered three half-centuries in the 2021 home series against England.
Earlier this year, Suryakumar also recorded three fifties in the home series against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Farhan recorded three fifties in the recent home series versus Sri Lanka.
Stats
First captain with this feat
Hope also became the first skipper with multiple T20I hundreds in a bilateral series.
England's Phil Salt (2 vs West Indies in 2023), India's Sanju Samson (2 vs South Africa in 2024), and India's Tilak Varma (2 vs South Africa in 2024) are the other batters with this milestone.
Hope also became the third batter after his teammate Evin Lewis and Australia's Glenn Maxwell with multiple T20I hundreds against the Indian team.
Milestone
Other records matched by Hope
Hope also matched Gayle's record for the most 50-plus scores by a West Indies batter in T20 internationals. Both have 16 such scores to their names.
However, while Gayle ended his career with two centuries and 14 half-centuries, Hope now has three centuries and 13 fifties.
The West Indies captain also crossed the milestone of 2,000 runs in T20Is, becoming only the fourth player from his country to do so.