Shai Hope struck a century as West Indies completed their highest successful ‌chase in T20 internationals, overhauling a target of 250 to beat India by six ‌wickets in Ranchi and level the five-match series at 1-1.

The ​visitors were also recording the second-highest successful run chase in men’s T20 international history, surpassed only by South Africa’s ​pursuit of 259 against West Indies in ‌2023.

Chasing the daunting target, West Indies were rocked early when pace bowler Mayank ​Yadav removed Kamil Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer with successive deliveries in the opening over before dismissing Rovman Powell for 24.

“When you chase here in India, you always give yourself ‌a chance. You always think you’re in the game, regardless of what score is on the board,” ​Hope said.

“But five for two was always going to be challenging.”

Skipper Hope and Sherfane Rutherford turned the match on its head with a blistering 120-run partnership ​for the fourth wicket.

Rutherford survived on 38 when Yadav spilled a ⁠straightforward chance at short fine leg and ⁠capitalised on the reprieve, hammering 84 off 37 balls before falling to Kuldeep Yadav.

Hope was unfazed, anchoring the chase ‌while maintaining the required rate, and combined with Romario Shepherd to guide West Indies home with nine balls to spare. Hope remained unbeaten on 102 from 45 deliveries.

“When ‌we got that partnership there, we just got some more impetus in the innings,” Hope said.

“Then obviously Sherfane came and did what he did, played really well with the bat, and just gave us that spark that we needed to get over ⁠the line.”

Earlier, Sanju Samson’s 41-ball 82 underpinned India’s ​total after he and Abhishek Sharma raced to 42 in less than ⁠four overs for the opening wicket.

Roston Chase halted the early surge by dismissing Sharma and later removed Ishan Kishan for 43 and Shivam Dube, while Shamar Springer struck with the key ⁠wicket of Samson.

India accelerated again late on ​through Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma, who put on 83 runs from 32 ​balls, with Iyer making 40 before falling off the penultimate delivery as the hosts finished on 249-5.

The teams meet again in ‌the third T20 in Indore ​on Sunday.

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England are in control of their World Cup play-off with Greece after winning the first leg 3-1 in Crete.

Goals from Georgia Stanway, Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo moved the Lionesses into a strong position for Tuesday’s second leg in Leicester – although Calliste Brookshire, who plays for Rangers in Scotland, pulled one back late on for a Greece side ranked 58th in the world. The winner will play Slovakia or Ukraine in round two on the road to Brazil 2027.

Lauren James saw a stunning chip from long range ruled out for offside in the first half but the Lionesses – forced into the play-offs after finishing behind Spain in qualifying – were not at their sharpest in that period and they were almost shocked when Ioanna Papatheodorou cracked a shot against the crossbar from 35 yards.

But England grabbed the advantage when Stanway finished a slick move that saw her combine with Laura Blindkilde Brown and Russo.

Le Tissier then thumped in from an angle after the break before Russo found the bottom corner from Beth Mead’s square pass just four minutes later as England swiftly took the game away from Greece.

Brookshire got on the scoresheet with some neat footwork in the box to give the underdogs some hope, but Jess Park blasted a shot against the underside of the crossbar in stoppage time, perhaps signalling that Sarina Wiegman’s side have more firepower in their arsenal for the return leg.

Key moments in Crete

12: ROOF OF THE NET! Keira Walsh’s attempted lob from 18 yards has too much on it and the ball lands on the roof of the net.

20: GOAL RULED OUT! James finds the net with an exquisite chip from 30 yards out… but an offside check rules out the goal.

34: GREECE HIT THE BAR! Papatheodorou twists and turns as she runs past Esme Morgan and then pings a shot against Hannah Hampton’s bar from 35 yards!

39: GOAL! Blindkilde Brown pops the ball into Russo, who lays it square for Stanway to give England the breakthrough.

63: GOAL! Le Tissier thumps in England’s second on the angle after earlier seeing two shots parried away.

67: GOAL! Russo fires a third into the bottom corner from Mead’s square pass in the box.

78: GOAL! Greece pull one back with Brookshire showing some neat footwork in the box before firing into the far bottom corner.

Wiegman: We still have things to work on

England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking to ITV:

“At moments we played really well. We started well; they started very aggressively too, but we stayed calm. That’s what I’m most pleased with. We have a couple of things to work on too.

“At moments in the game, we weren’t tight enough. The ball wasn’t moving quickly enough, especially when we got the ball a lot in the pockets and higher up the pitch. We need to be tighter and more aligned because, with the opportunities we created, we could have scored so many more goals.

“Sometimes we were offside, so I think those are things we have to work on. And, of course, I’m not happy with the goal we conceded.

“There were more positives, Maya’s goal was one of them. She’s really improving her game at club level and, with us, she’s more comfortable.”

Analysis: A win – but a frustrating night for England and Wiegman

Sky Sports News’ Anton Toloui in Crete:

“A win for England but a frustrating night for Wiegman and the England squad. They expected to win by more than two goals. Wiegman was even more frustrated by the fact they conceded here.

“They had 74 per cent possession, 26 shots, but England looked slow, predictable, like they played into the Greeks’ hands.

“The Greeks are delighted to walk away with this result, knowing the game is still up for grabs in Leicester.

“Wiegman will have some tough words for her team privately. Publicly she’s backing them on a professional job well done.”