Sanju Samson has continued to wreak havoc on bowlers in the ongoing T20 World Cup. India’s semifinal against England is underway at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai at present, and Samson continued where he left off against the West Indies earlier this week.
Samson had scored an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls against the Caribbean team in a must-win game to take the Indians to the semis. Today, he scored 89 off 42 balls in what was a batting masterclass to all intents and purposes. The right-hander was a bit lucky though early in his innings.
In the third over of the innings, he was dropped by none other than England captain Harry Brook off the bowling of pacer Jofra Archer. Samson, on 15 then, tried to hit Archer over mid-on but miscued his shot. Brook however couldn’t grasp what was truly a dolly.
Samson was unstoppable thereafter and he punished England’s bowlers big time. He was particularly hostile against the pacers of England, Archer particularly. Sam Curran and Jamie Overton were also taken to the cleaners.
Major milestones for Sanju Samson!
During his innings Samson reached a couple of milestones. First, when he scored his fifty off 26 balls, it was the second fastest for an Indian in an knockout match in the history of T20 World Cup. The fastest is by Yuvraj Singh against Australia, off 20 balls, in the 2007 T20 World Cup which India went on to win. Hardik Pandya had taken 29 balls for his fifty against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal.
Not just that, Samson also made the joint-highest score registered by an Indian in a knockout. Virat Kohli was the previous player to score 89 runs off 47 balls against the West Indies in the 2016 T20 World Cup semifinal at the same venue. India went on to lose that game though.
Samson hit 8 fours and seven sixes during his innings. By the time he was removed by Will Jacks, he had done his job. Once against he showed what a wonderful backfoot player he is. His 97-run stand for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan paved the way nicely. There were also other useful contributions. Kishan scored an 18-ball 39, while Shivam Dube scored a 25-ball 43 before being run out. India eventually finished on 253/7, their second highest score in the history of the T20 World Cup. Just days back they had scored 256 against Zimbabwe.
The winners of this match will go on to play New Zealand on Sunday.
