In high-scoring game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Sanju Samson's majestic innings (97* off 50) led the way for India to register a five-wicket win against West Indies on Sunday (March 1). Chasing a competitive target of 196, Samson stroked his way to spectacular innings, producing what is arguably his best-ever knock in Indian colours to take the defending champions to the semifinals.
Samson has produced three centuries in his T20I career but if you look at the fact that this was a must-win game in a T20 World Cup, it has to rank as his best innings for India in the shortest format. It might not be far-fetched to call this is his best-ever innings for India across formats.
It wasn't an ideal start to the chase for India as Abhishek Sharma fell cheaply yet again. The Punjab batter had a forgettable game after having put down two chances in the field earlier on. Ishan Kishan also didn't last long and the onus was on Samson to engineer India's comeback.
Unlike the recent matches where he looked in a rush and possibly erred a lot in shot selection, Samson seemed at his absolute best in Kolkata, dishing out one classy stroke after the other. The key part of his innings was that he was simply reacting to the ball instead of trying to play premeditated strokes - something that he hadn't been doing of late.
With dew also playing a part, batting was bound to get easier in the second half but West Indies hung in there despite the batting friendly conditions. Suryakumar Yadav never looked at ease during his 16-ball 18 but he managed to stay around with Samson as the pair added a crucial 58-run stand to repair the early damage.
Tilak Varma (27 off 15) then played a blinder and his partnership with Samson pushed India closer towards the target. The Hyderbad batter couldn't stay till the end but Samson ensured that he was there at one end to see India through to the knockout stages. The 31-year-old was a picture of calm and poise as he headlined a largely smooth chase for India.
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West Indies' bowling attack was always going to struggle under these conditions and that's why they would rue not finishing with another 15-20 extra runs. That they got to 195 itself was largely due to a sensational assault at the back end from Jason Holder and Rovman Powell. India also were poor in the field, both in catching and in the ground fielding.
Skipper Shai Hope will look back at his 33-ball 32 as one of the key points in West Indies' innings, because all the other batters went at a strike rate well in excess of 150 while he struggled to even get run-a-ball. Clearly, that's where the visitors lost tempo and also the Jasprit Bumrah over where he struck twice to remove Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase, the two set batters.
Nevertheless, 195 was a challenging total in a must-win game but West Indies simply didn't have the bowling arsenal to stop India's batting juggernaut. Abhishek and Kishan, the recent form batters may have failed but it just set the stage for Samson to show the kind of quality he has at the top of the order.
Samson fell narrowly short of his fourth T20I ton but he won't care one bit, as this was a statement knock from someone who was unfairly sidelined for a large part of 2025 due to India's selection blunders. Nevertheless, it's better late than never. India will play England in the second semifinal in Mumbai while New Zealand shall take on South Africa in the first semifinal in Kolkata.
