Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
There was nothing significantly different about the Sunday morning of May 5th, 2019.
The Men In Maroon were preparing to play their first match in the Tri-Series tour among West Indies, Ireland and Bangladesh scheduled just one month ahead of the highly anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup in England.
To many, it almost felt like the precursor event before the main show. But not to John Campbell and Shai Hope.
There was nothing regular about either of their innings. This was their event!
Like glue stuck to a smooth surface, Shai Hope and John Campbell stubbornly stuck at the crease and were unmovable for 48 overs despite Ireland’s best bowling efforts.
Hope and Campbell went on to respectively score 179 (137) and 170 (152) right in their host’s backyard.
Their 365-run partnership smashed the world record for the highest opening partnership in the history of One Day Internationals.
Their partnership was the also the second highest in ODI history, falling just seven runs short of their fellow West Indians, Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle, who smashed a 372-run partnership vs Zimbabwe at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Speaking with West Indies Cricket media on the 1-year anniversary, Campbell who debuted for the West Indies just three months prior to this memorable innings said:
“I’m here reminiscing about this day last year…it was and still is truly an awesome feeling”
Posting on his Instagram page @shaidhope, Hope commended his Maroon brother, Campbell, on his knock:
What a special day! A @windiescricket victory. My brother @johnbramz scoring his maiden international ton while creating history and the first time playing a game in what felt like subzero temperature.
West Indies went on to record the highest ODI total ever in Ireland.
What started as a regular day turned out to be a new page in the ODI history books!
