Mumbai, March 5 – Sanju Samson smashed a second consecutive half-century and forged crucial partnerships with Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube as India posted a massive 253/7 in 20 overs against England in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Semifinal 2 at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Samson, who had made a spectacular comeback with an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies in India's last Super 8 match, put up another impressive display of power-hitting, smashing seven sixes as he scored 89 off 42 balls.
Ishan Kishan contributed 39 (18 balls), and Dube hit 43 off 25 (1x4, 4x6). However, England managed to restrict the Indian batsmen and took some late wickets.
Samson started aggressively, hitting Jofra Archer for a four and a six in the first over. Although he lost Abhishek Sharma (9 off 7, 2x4) early, Samson maintained a high tempo throughout his innings, smashing boundaries all over the ground – straight, extra-cover, mid-wicket, third man, behind point, mid-on, and covers – as he hit eight fours and seven sixes in his 42-ball innings.
After England skipper Harry Brook won the toss and asked India to bat, Abhishek Sharma was dismissed by Will Jacks with 20 runs on the board. It could have been worse for the hosts if Brook had taken a catch off Samson in the third over. Samson drove a full-length delivery by Archer but edged it straight to mid-on, where Brook missed the catch, appearing to be unsure of how to complete it, only for it to pop out of his hands.
Samson then went ballistic, smashing boundaries at will and treating all bowlers with disdain. Archer's first two overs cost him 26 runs, while he hit boundaries off Archer, Jacks, Sam Curran, and Adil Rashid – starting with a four off his first delivery. After a couple of sixes off Archer, Samson smashed a six off Liam Dawson in the eighth over, followed by a six and a four off successive balls from Curran, Jamie Overton's slower ball was hit through the line for a straight six, while a slower one from Archer in his second spell was carved over the ropes at backward point.
Samson completed his fifty off 26 balls – his second consecutive in the competition – and raised 97 runs for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan (39 off 18, 4x4, 2x6) – as they scored 19 runs off Liam Dawson and 20 runs off Curran in the eighth and ninth overs. He also added 43 runs for the third-wicket partnership with Shivam Dube.
Just when it seemed like he would complete his first century in the T20 World Cup, Samson was caught by Phil Salt off Will Jacks, trying to reach out at a wide ball but only managing to play it uppishly.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav could only score 11 runs, and though Dube was going well, his runout after a mix-up with Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) reduced India's momentum. Tilak Varma struck a couple of sixes in his 7-ball 27 as the hosts managed to post a total that England will find difficult to chase.
Brief scores:
India 253/7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 89, Shivam Dube 43, Ishan Kishan 39; Will Jacks 2-40, Adil Rashid 2-41) against England