Mumbai: Sanju Samson hammered a second successive half-century and raised vital partnerships with Ishan Kishan and Shivam Dube as India posted a massive 253/7 in 20 overs against England in Semifinal 2 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Samson, who made a grand comeback with an unbeaten 97 against the West Indies in India’s last Super 8 match, put up another superlative display of power-hitting, blasting seven sixes around the ground as he scored 89 off 42 balls.
Ishan Kishan contributed 39 (18 balls), and Dube hammered 43 off 25 (1×4, 4×6). But England reeled in the Indian batters a bit and prevented them with some late wickets.
Samson got off the blocks like a rocket, hitting Jofra Archer for a four and a six off successive balls in the first over. Though he lost Abhishek Sharma (9 off 7, 2×4) early, Samson functioned in the fourth gear throughout his innings, spraying boundaries all over the ground — straight, extra-cover, mid-wicket, third man, behind point, mid-on and covers as he smoked eight fours and seven sixes during his 42-ball stay in the middle.
Asked to bat first after England skipper Harry Brook won the toss, India lost Abhishek Sharma to Will Jacks with 20 runs on the board. It could have been worse for the hosts if Brook had caught an easy chance off Samson in the third over. Samson drove a full-length delivery by Archer but chipped it straight to mid-on, where Brook grassed it, appearing in two minds on how to complete the catch, only to see it pop out of his hands.
Samson went ballistic after that, hitting boundaries at will, treating all bowlers with disdain. Archer’s first two overs cost him 26 runs while he struck boundaries off Archer, Jacks, Sam Curran, back-to-back fours in the sixth over, Adil Rashid — starting with a four off his first delivery. After a couple of sixes off Archer, Samson blasted a six off Liam Dawson in the eighth over, followed that up with a six and a four off successive balls from Curran, Jamie Overton’s slot ball was pumped 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 successive in the competition — and raised 97 runs for the second-wicket with Ishan Kishan (39 off 18, 4×4, 2×6) — as they blasted 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 looked like he would complete his first century in the T20 World Cup, Samson was caught out by Phil Salt off Will Jacks, trying to reach out at a wide one but only managing to play it uppishly.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav could score only 11 runs, and though Dube was going well, his runout after a mix-up with Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) reduced the momentum for India. Tilak Varma struck a couple of sixes in his 7-ball 27 as the hosts managed to post a total that England will find tough 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
(IANS)
