There were 7.4 overs of cricket. A fastest team fifty. An India total of 118 for 5. A DLS target of 84 runs in 5 overs set for West Indies. Then the rain came back. It did not stop. The umpires inspected. The ground staff worked. The covers stayed on. And somewhere around 10:20 PM in Bengaluru, the match was called off. A series that deserved a proper ending ended without one. But the individual story of the series had already been written.
The Final Match: What Happened in 7.4 Overs
West Indies won the toss and elected to field first at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 17. The toss itself was delayed due to rain. Play eventually started under lights with both teams aware the weather could intervene at any moment.
India posted 118 for 5 in 7.4 overs before the rain returned. They also broke a significant T20I record during their innings. India recorded the fastest team fifty in T20I cricket during this brief but explosive batting display. The crowd had barely settled when the covers came back out.
Match officials revised the West Indies target under DLS to 84 runs in 5 overs. But the weather failed to relent. After multiple inspections and ground staff efforts to make the surface playable, the match was officially called off. West Indies never faced a ball. The series decider ended without a decider.
India vs West Indies Series 2-2
With the abandonment, the five-match T20I series ended at 2-2. Both teams share the trophy. India won matches one and three. West Indies won matches two and four. Match five produced no result.
India won the first T20I in Lucknow by eight wickets with Iyer scoring 102 not out. West Indies won the second in Ranchi with Hope’s 100 not out chasing 250. India won the third in Indore by 14 runs with Abhishek’s 69 off 30 balls. West Indies won the fourth in Hyderabad by 24 runs with Hope scoring 102 not out again and Keemo Paul taking 5 for 41. Rain took the fifth.
Shai Hope: Player of the Series
Despite the series being shared, there was no debate about the Player of the Series award. Shai Hope won it unanimously.
Across the five-match T20I series and the three-match ODI series that preceded it, Hope was the standout performer of the entire West Indies tour of India. He scored three T20I centuries. He became the first West Indian to score three T20I hundreds. He surpassed Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis who each had two. His centuries came in Ranchi, Hyderabad, and across the ODI leg in Guwahati.
In the T20I series specifically, Hope scored 100 not out off 45 balls in Ranchi, the match that levelled the series 1-1. He then scored 102 not out off 50 balls in Hyderabad, the match that levelled the series 2-2 going into the final. Both matches West Indies won, Hope batted. Both matches Hope batted unbeaten, West Indies won. Three unbeaten knocks on this entire India tour. Three West Indies victories.
The Numbers That Define Hope’s Tour of India
The statistical picture of Hope’s individual contribution across this entire tour is extraordinary.
He scored 104 in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram. He scored 145 not out in the dead rubber third ODI in Chandigarh. He scored 100 not out in the second T20I in Ranchi. He scored 102 not out in the fourth T20I in Hyderabad. Four innings above 100. Four separate occasions across two formats. Against the world’s top-ranked ODI side in their own conditions.
His T20I centuries record now reads three, the most by any West Indies player in the format’s history. The records he has broken, the innings he has played, and where this tour sits in the context of his career make him one of the most compelling individual performers in world cricket right now. His standing in the active batting conversation is explored in our piece on the top 10 active batsmen in the world.
India’s Records in the Abandoned Match
Even in the 7.4 overs India batted in Bengaluru, records were broken. India recorded the fastest team fifty in T20I cricket during their brief but explosive innings. That specific record adds another statistical landmark to a series already overflowing with individual milestones.
India’s batting across the entire series showed the depth and aggression that their T20I program has been building across 2026. Iyer’s maiden century in Lucknow. Abhishek’s 69 off 30 in Indore. Samson’s 82 in Ranchi. The batting produced consistent highlights even in the matches India did not win.
Keemo Paul: The Bowling Highlight of the Series
Alongside Hope’s batting, the bowling story of the series belonged to Keemo Paul. His 5 for 41 in the fourth T20I in Hyderabad made him the first West Indian bowler to record multiple T20I five-wicket hauls. His bowling alongside Gudakesh Motie’s economy gave West Indies a bowling combination that restricted India to 223 in Hyderabad on a surface that had earlier produced 249 in Ranchi.
What the Shared Trophy Means for Both Sides
India and West Indies share the T20I series 2-2. For India, the shared result ends a run of bilateral T20I series wins that had extended to every series since the T20 World Cup 2026. This is the first time India have not won a home T20I series in 2026.
For West Indies, the result is significant. They arrived in India with a T20I squad that had not beaten India in a bilateral series. They leave having tied it. Hope, Paul, Hetmyer, Rutherford, and the rest of the West Indies T20I group showed that the quality in Caribbean cricket extends well beyond what their recent ICC tournament results suggested.
The framework that Iyer’s India built this series on and what the 2-2 result means heading into the New Zealand tour is explored in our piece on why Shreyas Iyer replaced Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain.
India Depart for New Zealand on October 22
Five days from the rained-out Bengaluru finale, India board their flight to New Zealand. The tour starts on October 22. Five T20Is are followed by five ODIs. Arshdeep Singh’s shoulder fitness will be assessed before departure. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been included in the New Zealand squad as part of his continued reintegration into the T20I setup.
West Indies head home. Hope has a Player of the Series award and a batting record that nobody in West Indian cricket history has achieved. He has three T20I centuries now. More than Chris Gayle. More than every West Indian who ever batted in the format. Bengaluru gave cricket a washout. But the series itself gave cricket one of its most compelling individual players of the entire 2026 calendar year.
Series Summary
India won the ODI series 2-1 with Kohli scoring 139 not out in Thiruvananthapuram and Gill scoring 223 in Guwahati. The T20I series ended 2-2 with the trophy shared. India won the overall tour result on points but West Indies leave with the individual honours. Shai Hope is the Player of both the ODI series and the T20I series.
Conclusion
The fifth T20I between India and West Indies at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was abandoned due to rain on October 17. India scored 118 for 5 in 7.4 overs before the rain ended proceedings. The series finished 2-2. Both teams share the trophy. Shai Hope won Player of the Series with three T20I centuries on the tour, the most by any West Indian in the format’s history. He surpassed Chris Gayle. He batted unbeaten three times. Every time he did, West Indies won. A series that deserved a proper ending was denied one by Bengaluru’s monsoon. The individual story ended perfectly regardless.
