‘A very, very famous person……’ – Shai Hope credits MS Dhoni for match-winning knock in 1st ODI vs England

The West Indies cricket team beats England by 4 wickets during the first ODI game, which took place on December 3 at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium. Speaking of which, England posted a massive total of 325 runs in 50 overs. However, the West Indies team chased down the total with seven balls to spare owing to a magnificent century by Shai Hope.

However, the West Indies skipper, Shai Hope, played the match-winning knock, has opened up about the tactics that he used to finish off the game with his brilliant ton. The 30-year-old cricketer spoke about the guidance he got from India’s legendary cricketer, MS Dhoni. In addition, the middle-order batter has explained how he took the time to settle it down before hammering the match-winning knock.

“A very, very famous person, MS Dhoni – we had a chat a while ago, and he was saying, ‘You always have a lot more time than you think’. That’s one thing that was stuck with me throughout the years that I’ve been playing ODI cricket. We knew it was a challenge to score from the other end, especially going against the breeze… regardless of what happened, I was going to try and take down that second-to-last over to give us the best chance of winning the game,” Shai Hope said at the post-match presentation.

The aim was to finish off at the back end: Shai Hope

Shai Hope reveals that he always aims to finish off the game in the 49th over, and he does not take the game in the last over to make the situation tough. Moreover, the Barbados-born cricketer seem to understand the situation, which helps him balance the score.

“After the second (six of the 49th over), I knew that we pretty much had the game in the balance. If we had that over to finish the game, I always try to finish the game with one over to spare if I can. I don’t want to leave it to anyone else, so the aim was to finish off at the back end,” he added further.