Sanju Samson drove home a 42-ball 89—and his second successive fifty—as India reached an imposing 253 for seven against England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Mumbai on Thursday.
Sent in to bat, he blasted seven sixes and eight fours in his innings. Shivam Dube (43), Ishan Kishan (39), Hardik Pandya (27) and Tilak Varma (21) also chipped in with brisk knocks.
For England, Will Jacks (2/40) and Adil Rashid (2/41) claimed two wickets each.
Notably, England had already removed Abhishek Sharma in the over prior to Samson's entry, and his dismissal would have put India under pressure, but Brook dropped a sitter at mid-on, leaving Jofra Archer in disbelief.
No stopping Sanju Samson 👊
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 5, 2026
Second half-century in a row and he gets there with a biggie 💪#T20WorldCup broadcast details ➡️ https://t.co/Wf4VaE4pSJ pic.twitter.com/0RIt30CWui
Samson made great use of this luck, as he subdued the England pace spearhead with a flurry of pull shots. He also picked up length quickly and was aided by a wayward Archer, who was too short in his opening spell of two overs, a PTI report noted.
His first maximum off Archer came via a pull over fine leg, before the opener dispatched a slower ball off the pacer over deep mid-wicket for another maximum.
Samson ranked up a 97-run stand off 45 balls with Ishan Kishan (39 off 19), who too racked up the boundaries against England's bowling line-up.
India raced to 67 for one in the power play and maintained the onslaught to reach 119 for two in 10 overs.
Shivam Dube (43 off 25) was promoted to number four to maintain the left-right combination after Kishan fell to Rashid. At the other end, Samson was equally menacing against the other bowlers, including Sam Curran and Jamie Overton.
It was after this point that Archer returned for another crack at Samson, only to concede again. The opener smashed him for a six over backward point before smoking Archer for another maximum over long-off.
Archer ended up conceding 61 runs in four overs as Tilak Varma (21 off 7) added to his forgettable night with three sixes in the 19th over.
England went with the off-spin of Will Jacks in the final over and Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) put him to the test with a couple of sixes.
The last five overs yielded 76 runs, pushing India to an above-par total.
