Shai Hope led from the front with an unbeaten 102 off 50 balls as West Indies defeated India by 24 runs in the fourth T20I in Bengaluru on Wednesday, levelling the five-match series 2-2. The West Indies captain backed his bowling management calls after the match, insisting that 240-plus was always a competitive score given the surface conditions at play.

Hope's Century Sets the Platform

Hope's century anchored a West Indies total of 247/3 — their second-highest T20I score against India — alongside a blistering unbeaten 49 off 26 balls from Sherfane Rutherford. The West Indies skipper explained his approach as one rooted in building an early foundation before allowing the middle order to accelerate.

'Just trying to give the team the best chance, man. So as long as we lay that foundation at the start, we got a 50-plus opening partnership. So it was good for us to start innings and then obviously we got that foundation, you can express yourself a bit more in the middle period and then try to give the team the best finish as could be possible,' Hope said after being named Player of the Match.

Keemo Paul's Five-Wicket Haul Seals the Win

Keemo Paul produced figures of 5/41 to dismantle India's chase, while Gudakesh Motie chipped in with two wickets in successive deliveries to further derail the hosts. India were eventually bowled out for 223, falling 24 runs short of the target. It was a disciplined bowling effort that reflected the team's growing confidence in defending large totals.

Hope Defends Bowling Decisions

One of the talking points of the match was Hope's call to restrict Motie to just two overs despite his back-to-back wickets. The skipper acknowledged the complexity of managing bowling resources in Indian conditions.

'Well, just, here in India, it's always tough to give bowlers three in a row, especially on conditions maybe say, yes, give him another one. But sometimes you just have to make a decision and back it. Just one of those things that happened today,' Hope said.

Pitch and Dew Factor Proved Key

Hope noted that the playing surface offered more variable bounce than the tourists initially expected, with some deliveries rearing sharply off the pitch while others stayed low. He felt this made scoring increasingly difficult, particularly in the death overs against both pace and spin.

'I found that with the new ball, some balls were kicking up a lot more and then some were staying down as well. So it's a bit too pace to start and then obviously with the spinners and the quicks in the back end, it was a little bit more difficult to hit through the line. So I felt as though 240 plus was a decent score,' Hope said.

The dew factor also complicated India's bowling effort when West Indies batted first — a reversal from previous games in the series where dew had favoured the team chasing. Hope credited India's performance across all phases but expressed satisfaction that West Indies had kept the series alive ahead of the fifth and final T20I.

Series Heads to a Decider

With the series locked at 2-2, the contest moves to its conclusion with the fifth T20I still to come. West Indies have now demonstrated both batting firepower — posting two big totals — and bowling depth capable of defending them, making them a genuine threat heading into the decider. Hope's consistent run-scoring throughout the tour has been the cornerstone of that revival.