HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka, CMC – Shai Hope, who made his ninth ODI hundred in the series opener which the West Indies lost to Sri Lanka, is aiming to repeat his outstanding performance but hoping for a different result when his side takes on the hosts in their second match tomorrow.
The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 115 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo – the highest score for the Windies in Sri Lanka, surpassing the 110 made by Adrian Barath at the same venue in 2011 – to lead the Windies to a competitive 289.
He reached his half-century off 77 balls at the start of the 26th over, before reaching his ton in the 43rd over off 128 deliveries – his second in his last seven innings.
“I had to ensure that I came out and stamped my authority on the first game. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out to be a wining effort, but it was still nice to get some runs under my belt,” Hope said.
“I think there were some key moments, where we could’ve probably put our foot down a bit more. The run out [between myself and Bravo], we probably could’ve gotten a lot more out of that partnership,” he added, looking back on the opener.
As the Windies arrived here ahead of their second match, the 26-year-old was hoping his heroics would lead to a series win over Sri Lanka.
West Indies need to win both of the upcoming matches – the other scheduled for Sunday – to achieve the goal of winning their first ODI series in Sri Lanka.
“It’s now do-or-die for us. We’re 0-1 down and we have two more games to make amends. I’m sure the guys have what it takes to come out and turn it around,” Hope said.
West Indies entered the series one point behind Sri Lanka in the ICC ODI rankings and are looking to move ahead of the hosts. Securing back-to-back wins in the ongoing series will be necessary to achieve that feat.
Tomorrow’s day/night contest will be played at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium here. First ball is 2:30 p.m. (5 a.m. Eastern Caribbean Time/4 a.m. Jamaica Time).
