Highest 9th wicket partnership in T20Is: Romario Shepherd and Akeal Hosein score 28 runs off final over to enter record books

Highest 9th wicket partnership in T20Is: The West Indian lower-order pair almost sealed a near-improbable chase at Kensington Oval.

During the second T20I of the ongoing England’s tour of West Indies in Barbados, England beat West Indies by a run in a cliffhanger of a run-chase.

Chasing a 172-run target, West Indies scored 170/8 in 20 overs primarily due to an unbeaten 72-run partnership for the ninth wicket between all-rounder Romario Shepherd (44 not out) and spinner Akeal Hosein (44 not out).

Needing 73 runs to win off 29 balls when Hosein entered the Kensington Oval with a bat in hand, the duo hit some blazing boundaries on their way of registering a remarkable comeback. With the situation reducing to them requiring 61 runs in three overs, the pair hit as many as three sixes in a Chris Jordan over but still needed 38 off the last two.

Playing in place of Tymal Mills in this match, England pacer Reece Topley gave away just eight runs in the penultimate over leaving the hosts with a near-improbably target of scoring 30 runs in the final over.

Facing Saqib Mahmood, Hosein scored a couple of boundaries in between two wide deliveries to need 20 runs off the last three deliveries. Not giving up on the chase, the 28-year old player hit three consecutive sixes surpass Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor’s 66-run partnership for the ninth wicket against Pakistan in Dubai six years ago.

It’s not impossible to see what this young West Indies white ball team can become in time. Very exciting talent. They need their top order to start setting the game up better.

— Ian “ Ja Mo” Bishop (@irbishi) January 24, 2022

While Shepherd (one four and five sixes at a strike rate of 157.14) and Hosein (three fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 275) might not have sealed the chase, their individual knocks have it in them to raise their stakes especially ahead of Indian Premier League 2022 mega auction.

Highest 9th wicket partnership in T20Is

Highest T20I partnership

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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