West Indies cricketer Shai Hope celebrates his birthday on Sunday (November 10). The wicket-keeper batsman turns 26 years old. Hope is a key player of West Indies national cricket team at present, featuring in all the three formats of the game. He made his international debut in May 2015 against England. Hope also played for West Indies in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Since his debut, Hope as emerged as a brilliant batsman for West Indies, piling runs at a great pace. As the West Indies cricketer celebrates his birthday, we will look at few of best performances in cricket and lesser-known things to know about him. Afghanistan vs West Indies, 1st ODI 2019 Match Result: Shai Hope, Roston Chase Shine As the Caribbeans Clinch the Match by Seven Wickets. 

Shai Hope has smashed five half-centuries in the Tests so far along with two hundreds. In ODIs, he has hit six centuries and 14 half-centuries. He smashed a 170-run-knock in an ODI against Ireland in May 2019, which is his highest ODI knock. Below we look at Shai Hope's best five batting performances.

147 and 118* Against England

During a Test match against England in August 2017, Shai Hope scored 147 and 118 in both the innings. It was his maiden Test century. With his brilliant batting, he took West Indies to victory while chasing 322 runs in the second innings.

170 Against Ireland

Hope and John Campbell made the highest-ever opening partnership in ODIs of 365 runs during a match against Ireland. Hope scored 170 runs in the match, which West Indies won by 196 runs.

146* Against Bangladesh

During 2nd ODI of West Indies tour of Bangladesh in 2018, Shai Hope smashed an unbeaten 146-run-knock. West Indies won the match by 4 wickets while chasing Bangladesh's 255-7.

123* against India

In an ODI match against India in October 2018, Hope smashed an unbeaten knock of 123 runs. West Indies were chasing a 322-run target in the match which ended in a tie.

77* against Afghanistan

In a recent ODI match against Afghanistan in India, Hope smashed an unbeaten 77-run-knock as West Indies successfully chased a 195-run target.

Well, we can say that Shai Hope has smashed some huge individual knocks for West Indies so far. Now, let us look at some lesser-known things to know about the Caribbean cricketer. MS Dhoni Survives Not Once but Twice as Shai Hope Makes Hilarious Stumping Blunder During IND vs WI CWC 2019 Match (Watch Video). 

  • Shai Hope hails from Barbados.

  • In 2018, he won Men's Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and the ODI Cricketer of the Year awards at the annual Cricket West Indies' Awards.

  • His elder brother, Kyle Hope, played for West Indies in Tests and ODIs.

  • He did his schooling from Bedes Senior School in East Sussex, England.

  • He is the fastest West Indies cricketer to score 2000 runs in ODIs, which he reached in his 47th innings.

So far, Shai Hope has played 30 Tests and 67 ODIs for West Indies, scoring 1485 and 2633 runs respectively. He has also scored 186 runs in 12 T20I. He is an emerging wicket-keeper batsman for West Indies and aspires a great future in West Indies cricket. Happy Birthday Shai Hope.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2019 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).