West Indies captain Shai Hope has continued his exceptional form on the ongoing tour of India, becoming the first West Indies batter to score three centuries in Twenty20 internationals (T20Is). Hope's unbeaten 102 off 50 balls in the fourth T20I, held in Hyderabad on Wednesday, propelled the visitors to a formidable total of 247 for three. This innings surpassed the previous record of two T20I hundreds held jointly by Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis.

Keemo Paul played a pivotal role in the match by taking five wickets to help restrict the Indian batting lineup to 223, securing a 24-run victory for West Indies and leveling the five-match series at 2-2. The upcoming fifth and deciding T20I is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Hope has been in remarkable touch throughout the tour, notching up four centuries across formats. Earlier in the series, he scored two centuries in the One Day Internationals (ODIs). In the first T20I match in Ranchi, he recorded an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls, leading West Indies to their highest successful run chase in T20I history. Notably, all three of Hope’s T20I centuries during this tour have been unbeaten scores of exactly 102 runs.

The Hyderabad century included nine sixes and four boundaries, further highlighting Hope’s dominant performance against India. This innings placed him in an elite group of international captains who have scored three 50+ scores in a bilateral T20I series involving Test-playing nations. Hope joined Indian players Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, as well as Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan in this exclusive club. Among these, Hope became the first captain to achieve this feat during an away bilateral T20I series.

In addition to his centuries, Hope also equaled Chris Gayle’s record for the most scores of 50 or more by a West Indies batter in T20Is, both holding 16 such innings. While Gayle accumulated two centuries and 14 half-centuries, Hope now has three hundreds and 13 fifties to his name. Furthermore, Hope surpassed the 2,000-run milestone in T20Is, becoming only the fourth West Indies batsman to do so.

Paul’s five-wicket haul, complemented by crucial breakthroughs from Shamar Springer, ensured that India’s chase fell short despite their efforts. The victory has set up a thrilling series decider in Bengaluru.

For Shai Hope, the tour has already been historic, marked by multiple records and a series of standout innings against the reigning world champions, with one more match still to be played.