Taking responsibility for the West Indies’ elimination from the T20 World Cup, skipper Shai Hope said he should have batted faster at the top to post a more challenging target for India in their must-win Super Eight game here.

Defending champions India chased down a fairly stiff 196-run target to knock the former winners out of the tournament at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

The visitors appeared at least 20 runs short as Hope ate up 33 balls for his 32, striking at just over 96, including 17 dot balls that probably cost them heavily in a high-scoring contest.

“Yes, I’ll take the blame. I should have batted a lot faster — if that’s what you want me to say,” said Hope in the post-match media interaction without dodging any tough question, here on Sunday.

“When you’re leading, you want to put your hand up and set the tone at the top. It didn’t happen for me today. I just didn’t get going today,” he conceded.

“But in situations like this, when you’re struggling, everyone struggles. But I don’t think I was batting badly.”

India had the perfect plan to tighten the marauding Windies after Suryakumar Yadav opted to bowl. He went in with Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel in the powerplay and they did their job, keeping Hope quiet early.

It was then that mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, held back deliberately for the middle phase, bowled him with a delivery that skidded through to rattle the stumps.

Though opener Roston Chase’s acceleration and the late flourish from Rovman Powell and Jason Holder lifted West Indies to 195/4, the total felt under-par on a good Eden surface with dew aiding the chase.

Hope, however, said the shortfall of runs was not for lack of intent.

“It was a bit of both. I hit a few fielders and they bowled well. As much as you’d love to hit every ball for six, it doesn’t happen. It’s just that I was hitting the fielders and then trying to play the situation a bit more.

“Obviously, I wanted to bat a little bit deeper into the innings and face most of the spin threat in the middle,” he explained.

Hope further admitted that the powerplay phase could have been better utilised by his team.

“We wanted 65-70 in the powerplay. We were 45 without loss, so we had a platform. With the batting depth we have, I didn’t see it as a big issue at the time, but we didn’t execute as well as we wanted.”

Fine margins

Calling it a fine-margin contest, he said: “It’s always a game of small margins. There are so many moments you can look back at and say maybe we should have done a little more or a little less of something else. But one team has to win.”

He further said the conditions aided the chasing side and rued lost toss.

“Here in Eden Gardens, chasing is usually better, especially with the dew. It always becomes a factor. I don’t think I could win a toss, so I’m always giving the guys the hard way out of it.

“I don’t think – I won a toss this tournament? One? Okay. Probably before that, the rest of the series, maybe one or two. Yeah, so that always putting me on the back foot.” However, looking at the broader picture, Hope chose to focus on the campaign’s positives.

“There are a lot of positives. Our bowling was much better than in previous series. The powerplay bowling especially stood up,” he noted.

Sanju deserves A+

Hope was effusive in praising India’s match-winner Sanju, whose unbeaten 97 anchored the home team’s chase. Having faced criticism and frequent exclusion in recent past, Sanju made the opportunity count in the biggest game.

A natural opener, he was not the first choice of the side at the start of the tournament after Ishan Kishan’s blazing return. Ishan was the preferred one with Abhishek Sharma in the opening position.

But following India’s batting meltdown against South Africa, the management had to fall back on his experience at the top.

He repaid that faith with a blazing start against Zimbabwe and then produced the innings of his life at the Eden.

“He shot the ball very nicely from the beginning all the way through to the end of the innings and he’s paced it really nicely. He was very smart and calculated with the way he went about his strokes.

“You must give him an A-plus with the way he played today. But we wish he didn’t have that innings today,” Hope said.

Published – March 02, 2026 12:46 pm IST

West Indies’ Shimron Hetmyer celebrates his fifty (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

Shimron Hetmyer produced a blistering knock to propel West Indies to a competitive 182 for 5 in their second T20 World Cup match against Scotland at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Saturday. The left-hander smashed 64 off just 36 deliveries, anchoring the innings after a shaky start. Scotland arrived at the tournament amid unusual circumstances, having been drafted in only two weeks earlier after Bangladesh pulled out of the competition, citing security concerns over travelling to India. Despite the short notice, the Scots showed early discipline after winning the toss and opting to bowl.

Their bowlers kept two-time champions West Indies in check during the Powerplay, applying pressure with tight lines. Brandon King was the first to break free, launching Safyaan Sharif for a six and two fours in the seventh over to inject momentum. King eventually made 35 before Scotland struck back. Off-spinner Michael Leask provided the breakthrough, dismissing captain Shai Hope for 19. Soon after, debutant left-arm spinner Oliver Davidson claimed his maiden T20 wicket when King was caught at backward point. Hetmyer then took charge of the innings, launching a fierce counterattack against the Scottish bowling. He cleared the ropes six times and stitched together a rapid 81-run partnership off just 37 balls with Rovman Powell, who contributed 24. Hetmyer raced to his half-century in only 22 balls, bringing it up with a six. It was the fastest fifty ever scored by a West Indies batter in a T20 World Cup. Although Powell fell during the closing overs, the aggression did not drop. Hetmyer continued to find the boundary alongside Sherfane Rutherford, who struck a quick 26 from 13 balls. Hetmyer’s innings ended when Safyaan Sharif forced a miscued hit that was brilliantly caught by Brandon McMullen at long-on. Rutherford departed on the first ball of the following over. Left-arm seamer Brad Currie was Scotland’s most economical bowler, finishing with figures of 2 for 23. Reflecting on his innings, Hetmyer admitted the conditions were testing. “It was good and bad, because of how hot it was. I don’t know about anybody else, but I asked the umpire, he said he didn’t feel it as much, but I guess getting back to playing in a day-night,” he said. Speaking about his partnership with Powell, Hetmyer highlighted the clarity in approach. “It was just batting with a clear mind really. Every ball pitched up, you could take a chance and if not just try to limit dot balls, that’s something that we speak about as a group and as a batting unit as well. To limit the dot balls as much as possible. And because we are a boundary hitting team, everyone knows that, but it’s just the singles and the dot balls where we kind of fall short just a little bit and it’s nice that it came off in our favour today.” Hetmyer also credited improved fitness for his performance. “I would like to think so (fitter). At home I did some work. I have my trainer which is my wife at home that kind of pushes me to go the extra mile and so far, it’s been working out quite well and I’m just happy to be on the park and contributing to the team as much as I can.”