2nd ODI: Hope, Pooran guide WI to 311/6
Port of Spain, Jul 24: Opener Shai Hope showed his class with a magnificent century while skipper Nicholas Pooran went on a six-hitting spree as the West Indies produced a solid batting display to post 311 for six against India in the second ODI here on Sunday.
Hope, who was dismissed cheaply in first ODI, played the role of the anchor to perfection as he added 65 runs off 55 balls for the opening wicket with Kyle Mayers (39), before forging another 62 with Shamarh Brooks (35).
While Mayers and Brooks showed promise, Hope found his perfect ally in skipper Pooran, who showed his big-hitting prowess during his 74 off 77 balls with the help of six maximums and one four. The two shared a 117-run stand off 126 balls.
Hope constructed his 115-run innings well, focusing on building partnership and exploded in the end. His 135-ball knock comprised eight fours and three maximums.
Spin duo of Axar Patel (1/40) and Deepak Hooda (1/42) were the best bowlers on display, while Yuzvendra Chahal (1/69) too scalped one but was expensive.
Mohammed Siraj (0/47) was decent but Avesh Khan had a forgettable ODI debut, while Shardul Thakur (3/54) made amends in the back end with three wickets after conceding 13 in the first over.
Hope looked in full flow as he played some exquisite shots on the off side before reaching the three figures in his 100th ODI game with a six in the 45th over.
Opting to bat, Mayers and Hopes gave West Indies a good start with the former taking the attack to the opposition.
Mayers tore into debutant Avesh, slamming him for successive boundaries in the fourth and sixth overs as the Indian pacer, guilty of bowling too full and short, ended up conceding 36 in his first three overs.
Thakur was not spared either as Mayers sent his first two balls for a four and a six but Siraj kept things tight in his opening spell.
Hooda produced the first breakthrough with Mayers hitting the first delivery straight back to the bowler.
Brooks and Hopes then looked to build a partnership with Hooda and Patel bowling in tandem, targeting the stumps. The spin duo did well to tighten things up as WI managed just 42 from the 10th to 20th over.
Chahal was taken to the cleaners in the 21st over with Hope and Brooks smashing a six and a four. But Dhawan brought back Patel and he produced a wicket-maiden to get rid off Brooks with the Indian skipper taking a low catch.
Chahal redeemed himself in his next over as he induced a top-edge off Brandon King, who paid the price for going for a slog sweep too early in his innings.
Pooran and Hope then brought up the 150 in the 28th over. The opener took the initiative, picking up three boundaries and also slog-swept Chahal for a six to reach his fifty.
Pooran also went down the track to produce two maximums as the 200 was up in 38th overs.
The Windies skipper exploded in the 39th over with two sixes off Chahal on both sides of the ground on way to his half-century.
When Patel was introduced, Pooran, down on one-knee, clobbered him for another six to bring up their 100-run stand in the 42nd over.
Pooran next sent Avesh over the ropes for his sixth maximum but Thakur bowled him round his legs to break the partnership.
Hope then unleashed two sixes in two balls off Chahal en route his century, while Rovman Powell (13) and Romario Shepherd (14) played some lusty blows to take WI across the 300-mark.
WI amassed 93 runs in last 10 overs.
Brief Scores:
West Indies: 311 for 6 in 50 overs (Shai Hope 114, Nicholas Pooran 74; Shardul Thakur 3/54).
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Standoff between Delhi, Shimla police after arrest of 3 Youth Congress activists
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Shimla/New Delhi (PTI): In an ugly face-off, Himachal Pradesh police on Wednesday registered a kidnapping case against Delhi police personnel and "detained" their vehicles at the Shogi border near Shimla when they were heading back to the national capital with three Youth Congress members arrested in connection with the "shirtless protest" at the AI Summit.
"A case has been registered against 15-20 unknown people in plain clothes for forcibly taking three people staying in a resort in Rohru. They also took the CCTV installed in the resort with them and did not give any receipt," a statement issued by the Shimla police said.
The Delhi police had earlier on Wednesday said it had arrested three Youth Congress activists in connection with the February 20 protest at AI Impact Summit from a hotel in Chirgaon area of Rohru subdivision of Himachal's Shimla district.
Saurabh, Siddharth and Arbaz were apprehended by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. They were produced before a local court, which granted transit remand to enable the police to bring them to Delhi for further questioning, an official of the Delhi police said in the national capital.
Himachal Police sources claimed they intercepted three vehicles in Shimla and Solan districts and brought them back to Shimla as the Delhi police had not taken transit remand.
Both the Shimla police and the Delhi police accused each other of hampering the investigation.
The sources in Himachal Pradesh police claimed the team from Delhi carried out the operation in Shimla without informing the local police.
Acting on this, Himachal Pradesh police intercepted three vehicles carrying the accused -- who are reportedly not residents of Himachal Pradesh -- and Delhi Police personnel.
Two vehicles were stopped in Shimla, while the third was intercepted near Dharampur in Solan district. Around 20 people, including police personnel, were detained, the source said.
The Delhi police personnel again tried to leave for the national capital but were intercepted at Shogi border on Wednesday night on the road to Chandigarh and not allowed to leave.
In a video that appeared from the Shogi border in the suburbs of Shimla city, the Delhi police officers were heard saying that they had arrested three people in the morning in connection with an FIR registered on February 20.
VIDEO | Shimla: A jurisdiction dispute has erupted after the Delhi Police detained three Youth Congress workers in connection with an AI Summit protest pic.twitter.com/H7o7eaYOb8
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 25, 2026
"We have to produce the accused arrested at 5 am today in the court in 24 hours, and you have stopped us after registering an FIR at 8 pm," an officer of the Delhi police said.
However, the Shimla police officers maintained that a case of abduction has been registered and the Delhi police is hampering the investigation.
They alleged that the Delhi police carried out an illegal operation at Rohru without informing the local police and no papers of arrest were shown.
"I asked you for a legal document in the morning, but neither have you shown any document nor the FIR number and nor have you taken the transit remand," the officer of Shimla police is heard saying.
The "shirtless" protest at Bharat Mandapam on February 20 had triggered a major security response, with police earlier invoking charges including rioting and promoting enmity under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib and former national spokesperson Bhudev Sharma were arrested in connection with the case on Tuesday. Both were produced before a Delhi court and remanded to police custody for interrogation.
According to the Delhi police, a total of 11 people have been arrested so far.
Earlier, on Saturday midnight, Delhi Police had raided Himachal Sadan in the national capital amid reports that Youth Congress workers who had participated in the protest were provided accommodation there.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had termed the action "unfortunate and against constitutional procedure".
A Delhi court on Wednesday extended by four days the police custody of five of the arrested in the case.
Arguing that the incident was not spontaneous but executed after prior planning, the Delhi police said that the initial probe revealed structured allocation of roles, concealment tactics and coordinated post-incident movement.
It, however, said that the entire conspiracy, including its hierarchy, funding and inter-state coordination, needed to be unearthed.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta extended the custodial interrogation of the accused -- Krishna Hari, national secretary of the Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, state general secretary of Bihar; Ajay Kumar Singh, state vice-president of eastern Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav, national coordinator of IYC from Telangana.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Wednesday denied permission to the Delhi Youth Congress to hold a dharna at Jantar Mantar in national capital on February 26, citing short notice and prevailing law and order concerns.
The Delhi Youth Congress had called the dharna on Thursday against the police action on IYC members who had taken part in the February 20 protest.
