Mumbai, March 5 Sanju Samson overcame the challenge posed by Jofra Archer through a stroke of luck to reach his second successive fifty, helping India post a massive 253 for seven against England in the T20 World Cup semifinal here on Thursday.
After single-handedly taking India to the semifinals, a supremely confident Samson (89 off 42) dominated the England bowling attack, including Archer, who had previously dominated the Indian opener in last year's bilateral series.
Having lost the toss on a ground with short boundaries, India needed to post a big total, and Samson helped them achieve that after being dropped by Harry Brook on 15 off Archer in the third over.
England had already dismissed Abhishek Sharma in the previous over, and a Samson dismissal would have put India under pressure, but Brook dropped a sitter at mid-on, leaving Archer in disbelief.
That was all the luck Samson needed to make England pay, as he smashed seven sixes and eight fours in his impressive innings.
Archer had dismissed Samson three times last year when he struggled to handle short balls aimed at the body, but Samson subdued the England pace spearhead with a series of pull shots.
He quickly found the length and benefited from a wayward Archer who was too short in his opening spell of two overs.
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 shared a 97-run stand off 45 balls with Ishan Kishan (39 off 19), who too picked up boundaries against an errant England bowling line-up.
India raced to 67 for one in the power play and continued their 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 was dismissed by Rashid.
Samson, at the other end, was equally menacing against the other bowlers, including Sam Curran and Jamie Overton.
Archer returned for his second spell only to be hammered by Samson 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, while Tilak Varma (21 off 7) added to his forgettable night with three sixes in the 19th over.
England opted for off-spin from Will Jacks in the final over, and Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) put him to sword with two sixes.
The last five overs yielded 76 runs, pushing India to an above-par total.
