Kolkata, March 1 Skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that opening batter Sanju Samson earned his reward for his hard work with an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies, adding that India deserved to reach the semi-final of the T20 World Cup.
India beat the West Indies by five wickets to set up a semi-final date with England, which will be played at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on March 5.
"Obviously, it's a great feeling. It felt like a quarter-final game. The way the boys showed character, it was a great achievement," Suryakumar told the broadcaster after the match.
"I always say that good things happen to good people who persevere. It's all his hard work that he put in when he wasn't playing, and now he's reaping the rewards," he replied when asked about Samson's innings.
"The way we played from the first game, I think we deserve to be there in Mumbai. But we won't think about it now. We will travel to Mumbai and see what to do. When there is no pressure, there is no pressure," he added.
Suryakumar said that India wanted to take the game deep as they knew the dew factor would assist them in chasing the 196 target. India replied with 199/5 in 19.2 overs.
"I feel everyone bowled according to the plans. We knew that 200 is always a good score to chase. The ball comes on nicely because of the dew, and our plan was to take the game deep."
West Indies skipper Shai Hope said that his side was a few runs short, adding that they did not have a great start.
"Maybe a few (runs) short, especially on a chasing ground like this. We probably could have pushed harder at the end. Sanju also played a really good innings, and he deserves credit. But it would have been good if we had gotten a few more runs," Hope said.
He said that the West Indies players adapted well to different conditions in the tournament.
"The way we adapted to different conditions, we deserve credit. Especially bowling in the powerplay. Akeal (Hosein) was very good, and Gudakesh (Motie) also did well when he came back into the team."
"Just couldn't get over the line today. You never want to end at this stage. One more game, and we'd be in the semi-finals, and things will go well, and you'll be in the final for the big one," he added.
