West Indies batter Shai Hope continued his blistering form in international cricket with a decent knock of 48 against New Zealand in second Test of the three-match series. This saw him become the highest-scorer in international cricket in 2025 so far, surpassing Shubman Gill. The 32-year-old scored a phenomenal hundred in the previous match and massively helped his team in drawing the match.
Hope's inning of 48 left him at 1749 international runs in 2025, overtaking Gill's tally of 1736 runs. Other players in the list include Zimbabwe's Brian Bennett, Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha and England's Joe Root.
Most runs in international cricket in 2025 -
1. Shai Hope (West Indies) - 1749 runs
2. Shubman Gill (India) - 1736 runs
3. Brian Bennett (Zimbabwe) - 1585 runs
4. Salman Ali Agha (Pakistan) - 1569 runs
5. Joe Root (England) - 1540 runs
Hope's remarkable year so far
Hope has been in terrific form especially in ODIs this year and recently became the West Indies player with the second-most centuries in the format at 19. Though the team haven't been able to perform well in any of the three formats, Hope has played some phenomenal innings and has proven to be one of if not their most important player.
He was once again their top-scorer on the day in what was quite a disappointing batting effort. The returning Blair Tickner and debutant Michael Rae racked up four and three wickets respectively, bundling out the visitors for just 205 runs in Wellington. Except for Hope, John Campbell and Brandon King, none of West Indies' batters managed to cross even the 30-run mark and got bowled out for a low total.
Another injury setback for New Zealand
However, New Zealand also suffered a blow of their own as Tickner ended up sustaining a shoulder injury and was soon stretchered off the field. He is expected to not participate in the remainder of the match and may even be excluded from the third Test. This is a massive blow for the Kiwis as pacers Matt Henry and Nathan Smith had also picked up injuries during the first Test and have already been ruled out of the series. Now with Tickner injured, other bowlers will have to take extra load and will have to bowl more overs than they would have expected in West Indies' second innings.