A calm and composed knock from Sanju Samson set up India’s five-wicket victory against the West Indies in the T20 World Cup 2026 on March 01 at Kolkata.
By his unbeaten 97-run knock, Sanju Samson single-handedly guided India to semi finals in the T20 World Cup campaign.
After invited to bat first, Shai Hope and Roston Chase opened the innings for West Indies while Arshdeep Singh opened the bowling attack.
The West Indies duo made a decent start with 45 runs in the powerplay. Chakravarthy, who came to bowl in the 9th over, bagged the wicket of Shai Hope for 32 runs.
With Shimron Hetmyer and Chase at the crease, they quickened the innings before Bumrah got the breakthrough, dismissing both the batters in a single over.
Shimron Hetmyer got dismissed for 27 runs while Roston Chase went back to the dugout for 40 runs.
With Hardik Pandya bagging the wicket of Sherfane Rutherford for 14 runs, West Indies were in a tough spot as they lost four wickets for 119 runs.
However, Rovman Powell and Jason Holder capitalised on the innings as they went on to forge a 79-run partnership, reviving the West Indies innings.
Powell added 34* runs off 19 deliveries while Jason Holder added 37* runs off 22 deliveries. By the end of 20 overs, the West Indies went on to score 195 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah bagged two wickets, while Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy bagged one wicket each.
India seal the #T20WorldCup 2026 semi-final spot with an emphatic victory over West Indies 👏
📝: pic.twitter.com/QwJQoBP0jN
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 1, 2026
Chasing a mammoth 196 run target, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson opened the innings while Akeal Hosein opened the bowling attack.
Despite a slow start from Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson capitalised on the innings, hitting boundaries with well-calculated shots.
With the dismissal of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan for 10 runs each, India lost two wickets in powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav joined Samson, aiming to anchor the innings as India scored 53 runs in the powerplay.
Shamar Joseph brought a breakthrough, dismissing SKY for 18 runs. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson smashed his fifty, and he anchored the innings.
Tilak Varma did make a cameo, scoring 27 runs off 15 deliveries before his dismissal by Jason Holder.
Hardik Pandya, who joined Sanju Samson, added 17 runs before being dismissed by Shamar Joseph.
Shivam Dube, who joined Sanju Samson on the chase, hit two crucial boundaries in the penultimate over. In the final over, Sanju Samson went on to smash a six and four to complete the chase as he remained unbeaten with 97 runs off 50 deliveries.
This will be the highest run chase by India in the T20 World Cup history. Sanju Samson was named player of the match. Speaking on the post-match presentation, Samson said, “It means the whole world to me actually. Right from the day I started dreaming of playing for the country, this is what I was waiting for.”
“I have been playing this format for a very long time. I was learing from the dugout watching the likes of Virat and greats from the game. I wanted to build a partnership,” added Sanju Samson.
“I never felt that I will do something special like this. One of the greatest days of my life. They do bring a lot of support and energy. I just watched the ball and trusted myself to play the shots,” concluded Sanju Samson.
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