Sylhet: A fiery Shai Hope struck the third fastest T20I fifty to help his side stun Bangladesh in the T20I series opener on Monday at Sylhet International Stadium.

West Indies won the match by eight wickets with 55 balls to play – their fifth win over the Tigers in the shortest form of cricket, reports he UNB.

Hope took only 16 balls to reach the landmark. Only India’s Yuvraj Singh and New Zealand’s Colin Munro scored half centuries faster than him. Yuvraj needed 12 balls while Munro hit his fifty in 14 balls.

Hope’s innings helped the visitors post 91 in six overs – the highest powerplay score in T20 Internationals.

West Indies lost their first wicket at 51 runs in 3.2 overs. Mohammad Saifuddin scalped the wicket of Evin Lewis. But Hope kept going with Nicholas Pooran and added 47 runs to take their side close to victory.

Hope fell for 55 runs off 23 balls but he had ensured that his side would have an easy win. West Indies at the point needed 32 runs to win.

Eventually, the visitors reached the target in 10.5 overs. Along the process, they scored their 100 runs in just 49 balls as Bangladeshi bowlers failed to put up any pressure on the Windies batsmen.

The Tigers chose to bat first but were all out for 129, thanks to Shakib Al Hasan’s 61.

Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell took four wickets—three of his victims fell on short deliveries. Two other Bangladeshi batsmen walked back to the pavilion after failing to handle short balls.

The remaining matches of the three-match series will be held in Dhaka on December 20 and 22. Both matches will start from 5pm.

Bangladesh XI: Liton Das, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah, Ariful Haque, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Abu Hider, Mustafizur Rahman.

Windies XI: Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Fabian Allen, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.