India vs West Indies 5th T20I washed out, series ends 2-2

Rain decided the decider. The fifth and final T20 International between India and West Indies at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was abandoned on Saturday night, 17 October 2026, after India had batted for just 7.4 overs, so the series ended 2-2 and the two teams share the trophy.

India were 118 for 5 when the rain returned shortly after 10 PM IST. West Indies never began their chase, and with no reserve day, that was that.

Key points

• The match was cut to nine overs a side after a delay of nearly three hours, then abandoned with India on 118/5 in 7.4 overs.
• The five-match series finished 2-2: India won in Lucknow and Indore, West Indies in Ranchi and Hyderabad.
• West Indies captain Shai Hope scored two unbeaten centuries in the series; Shreyas Iyer hit his first T20I hundred in the opener.
• West Indies hit 105 sixes across the five matches, among the most ever in a bilateral T20I series between Full Member teams.

India vs West Indies 5th T20I: how the night went

Bengaluru's weather had the last word from the start. Overs began to be lost from about 7:45 PM IST, and the toss and first ball were held back for nearly three hours. That any cricket happened at all owed a lot to the ground itself: the Chinnaswamy has a sub-surface drainage and aeration system, installed in 2017, that can clear standing water from the outfield far faster than traditional methods. When play finally began, it was a nine-overs-a-side contest with a powerplay of 2.4 overs.

Hope won the toss and chose to bowl, which made sense with more rain around. India went hard from ball one. Abhishek Sharma fell in the first over, but Ishan Kishan made 30 off only 10 balls, with three fours and two sixes, before Shamar Joseph removed him.

Captain Shreyas Iyer added 22 off 14 and Sanju Samson 16 off seven. Shamar Springer bowled both Samson and Tilak Varma, and Keemo Paul took two wickets in his two overs, though they cost 34 runs. Naman Dhir's unbeaten 24 off six balls, with three sixes, lifted India to 118.

Then the rain came back, at about 10:07 PM. India's innings was over by 10:13. West Indies had a revised target of 85 from five overs, but the cut-off for a five-over chase was 10:21 PM, and the umpires called it off at about 10:20.

Series recap: how the 2-2 happened

This was a series of big totals. Here's how it went:

In Lucknow, Iyer made an unbeaten 102 off 43 balls, his first T20I century, as India chased 172 inside 15 overs. West Indies hit back in Ranchi, chasing 250 with Hope's unbeaten 102 off 45; the two teams scored 501 runs between them that night, one of the highest aggregates in T20I history.

India took the lead again in Indore, where Abhishek Sharma's 69 off 30 and Arshdeep Singh's three wickets defended 223. In Hyderabad, Hope struck another unbeaten hundred, 102 off 50, and Keemo Paul took five for 41 as West Indies won by 24 runs to level the series.

The numbers that defined the series

West Indies hit 105 sixes in the series, the fourth-highest in a bilateral T20I series between Full Member nations, according to Outlook India. Their run rate of 10.98 an over was the highest by any side in such a series.

There were smaller milestones along the way. Abhishek Sharma became the fastest batter to 2,000 T20I runs by balls faced, during his 69 in Indore. Sherfane Rutherford passed 1,000 T20I runs in Ranchi. Akeal Hosein played his 100th T20I in the opener, a match in which West Indies' Kamil Pooran also made his debut. And Keemo Paul's five for 41 in Hyderabad turned a level contest West Indies' way.

That tells you two things. The pitches were very good for batting. And this West Indies side can still out-hit almost anyone in the world when its top order fires.

For India, the series was a useful look at depth. Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to the T20I side in Bengaluru for the first time in about four years. Naman Dhir made his T20I debut in Lucknow. Iyer, leading the T20I side, opened the series with a century and kept India level in a run-fest.

Why it matters: For India, a 2-2 at home is a mild disappointment, but the series gave younger players match time ahead of a busy home season. For cricket readers in the Caribbean, the UK and beyond, it's a reminder that the West Indies remain one of the most dangerous T20 teams in the world, and that Shai Hope, long best known for his ODI run-making, is now a T20 match-winner too.

Shai Hope's series

Two unbeaten hundreds in five matches would be exceptional in any series. Hope's came in the two games his side won, in Ranchi and Hyderabad, and he was Player of the Match both times. He also passed 2,000 T20I runs in Hyderabad.

He did it as captain, too. In Bengaluru, his call to bowl first and keep India to a short innings looked smart until the weather made it irrelevant.

His two hundreds came at a strike rate above 200. In Ranchi he took his side past 250 with 1.3 overs to spare, the kind of chase that only a handful of teams have ever completed in T20 internationals. In Hyderabad he made another unbeaten hundred to help set 248, and his bowlers did the rest. For a captain whose side came to India with modest expectations, it was a statement series.

The next men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2028, is still a long way off. But both sides take something from this fortnight. India learned that even 249 can be chased against them at home. West Indies learned that their captain can win a T20 match almost single-handed.

What's next for India

India already won the ODI leg of this tour, taking the three-match series 2-1, with Shubman Gill named Player of the Series. Next up at home, India host Sri Lanka for three ODIs (13, 16 and 19 December, in Delhi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad) and three T20Is (22, 24 and 27 December, in Rajkot, Cuttack and Pune), according to the BCCI's home-season fixtures. Zimbabwe and Australia follow in January 2027.

Before then, the T20I side will need to settle on a top order and a bowling attack. Kishan, Samson and Abhishek all made runs in this series; the bowlers, who conceded 240-plus twice, have more to prove.

A 2-2 scoreline flatters nobody and hurts nobody. Perhaps that suits a series in which both sides scored so freely that the only thing able to stop them, in the end, was the Bengaluru sky.