Shai Hope becomes fourth WI batter with 15 ODI tons
West Indies skipper Shai Hope has slammed his 15th century in ODIs. He reached the three-figure mark in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers match against Nepal at the Harare Sports Club. Hope rescued the Caribbeans after they were reduced to 9/2. He shared a double-century stand with Nicholas Pooran to rebuild the innings. Hope scored a 129-ball 132 (10 fours, 3 sixes).
A compose century from Hope
As stated, Hope arrived in the middle after West Indies suffered a top-order collapse (9/2). He shared a 46-run stand with opener Brandon King before the latter departed (55/3). Hope then paired up with Pooran and reconstructed the WI's innings. The duo took them past the 200-run mark in the 37th over. Hope raced to his century off 107 balls (40th over).
Hope joins these legends
Hope has become the fourth West Indian batter with 15 or more centuries in ODI cricket. He is only behind Chris Gayle (25), Brian Lara (19), and Desmond Haynes (17) in terms of ODI tons. Hope, featuring in his 110th ODI, also has 22 half-centuries to his name in the format. During the match, he went past the 4,600-run mark in ODIs.
Hope gets past 4,600 runs
Hope has been a run machine for WI since his debut in the format in 2016. He has now raced to 4,674 in 110 games at a sensational average of 50.80. Notably, his average is the highest among WI batters with at least 200 runs in the format. His highest score of 170 came against Ireland during the 2019 Tri-Nation Series.
Hope has slammed over 3,000 runs in last four years
Since the start of 2019, Hope has racked up 3,012 runs in 66 ODIs at an excellent average of 52.84. While no other batter has scored over 3,000 ODI runs in this period, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (2,822) trails him in this regard. Among West Indies batters, Pooran trails hope with 1,791 ODI runs in this period.
Hope averages over 90 as skipper
In five ODIs as skipper, Hope has slammed 366 runs at an average and a strike rate of 91.50 and 101.66, respectively. Notably, his overall career strike rate reads 76.27. Earlier this year, he scored a ton (128*) on his ODI captaincy debut against South Africa. WI have won four and lost just one ODI under Hope so far (before the Nepal match).
