The Indian cricket team lost to the West Indies in the penultimate match of the IND vs WI T20 2026 series by 24 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
After Indian T20 captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl, the visitors rode on an unbeaten 102 off 50 balls by skipper Shai Hope to post a formidable 247/3 on the board.
Despite Sanju Samson (56 off 23) giving India a solid start, the visitors managed to restrict the home side to 223 thanks to a fifer by Keemo Paul.
The India vs West Indies T20 series now stands tied at 2-2, setting up the final match in Bengaluru on Saturday as the decider.
Put in to bat, West Indies raced to 79/1 in the powerplay, with opener Jewel Andrew – drafted in for Kamil Pooran – scoring 21 off 16 before Axar Patel trapped him LBW in the fifth over to break a brisk opening stand of 52.
Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer ensured the scoring rate kept climbing, adding 58 for the second wicket. Hetmyer blazed 33 off just 12 balls, striking four fours and two sixes before Prince Yadav clung on to a return catch to cut short his cameo.
Hope reached his fifty off 28 balls and held the innings together as Rovman Powell chipped in with 24 off 17 before eventually being dismissed by Arshdeep Singh, leaving West Indies on 156/3 in the 13th over.
The Windies skipper then found a willing partner in Sherfane Rutherford, with the two piling on an unbroken 91-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Hope brought up his second T20I century of the series off 50 balls after hitting Nitish Kumar Reddy for consecutive sixes off the final two balls of the innings and finished unbeaten on 102, laced with four fours and nine sixes.
Rutherford stayed unbeaten on 49 off just 26 balls as West Indies posted 247/3.
Prince Yadav was the standout among India’s bowlers with figures of 1/36.
Sanju Samson led India’s response and raced to a fifty in 20 balls.
It took a sharp catch by Shimron Hetmyer on the boundary rope to bring the Indian opener’s onslaught to an end in the fifth over.
Keemo Paul struck again, three balls later, this time having Ishan Kishan holed out in the deep.
Abhishek Sharma (29 off 24) looked to rebuild, first combining with skipper Shreyas Iyer for a 30-run stand and then putting together 33 with Tilak Varma before playing one straight down Shamar Springer’s throat at the deep off Gudakesh Motie.
Motie struck again on the very next ball to have Naman Dhir stumped, leaving India languishing at 130/5. Tilak was left to pick up the pieces along with Nitish Kumar Reddy.
After a brief period of consolidation, the two stepped on the gas and made a daunting-looking required run rate plummet with a series of maximums between the 14th and 15th overs.
Unfortunately, Tilak departed having skied one while trying to clear the boundary off Romario Shepherd after a well-made 43.
With 48 to get off the final three overs, India needed a heroic effort but some good bowling by Keemo Paul, who finished with figures of 5/41, saw the Windies comfortably seal the win.
India did not play the final three balls of their innings after Arshdeep Singh was struck on the arm by Shamar Joseph and was retired hurt.
IND vs WI, T20 2026 match 4, brief scores: West Indies 247/3 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 102 not out; Prince Yadav 1/36) beat India 223/10 in 19.3 overs (Sanju Samson 56; Keemo Paul 5/41) by 24 runs.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/india-vs-west-indies-t20-cricket-2026-match-4-report
