Published: March 1, 2026 at 11:08 pm
With India’s semifinal spot on the line, Sanju Samson rose to the occasion, producing a gem of an innings to take his team past the West Indies and into the final four of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
In a make-or-break contest against West Indies, the defending champions came up with a solid performance to cruise to a five-wicket win in Kolkata on Sunday. On a batter-friendly track at the Eden Gardens, West Indies batting depth was put to the test as they survived a mid-innings wobble to post 195 for 4.
Samson led the chase with an unbeaten 97, as India brought up 199 for 5 in 19.2 overs. It was the highest score by an Indian in a run-chase at the T20 World Cup.
India will next take on England in the semifinals in Mumbai on Thursday.
“It means the whole world to me. Right from the day I started playing, started dreaming of playing for the country, this is the knock I was waiting for. Had a very special journey. Had a lot of ups and downs. kept doubting myself, thinking will I make it? But I am thankful to the Almighty for blessing me today,” said Samson, who was named the Player of the Match.
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“I’ve been playing this format for many years. Learned from a lot of greats like Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni. That helped with my experience. I’ve noticed how the greats play, and seeing how they change their game according to situations. Last game we were batting first so I was going from ball one, but this game it was different. Every time I tried to go too high, we were losing wickets. Didn’t think I would play this special knock, but yeah this is one of the greatest days of my life. Just stayed in the present, played the ball on the merit,” he added.
Put into bat, West Indies were uncharacteristically watchful in the beginning and finished powerplay at 45/0. West Indies stepped in a newly-minted opening partnership of Shai Hope and Roston Chase. It was Chase’s first T20I as an opener and after a sedate start, he got going with two sweetly-timed boundaries against Arshdeep Singh and then scooped Jasprit Bumrah for a four.
Varun Chakaravarthy gave India the breakthrough as he knocked back Shai Hope’s (32) stumps in the ninth over. But it was Jasprit Bumrah’s double strike, to dismiss set batters Shimron Hetmyer (27) and Roston Chase (40), that swung the momentum India’s way.
Hetmyer was starting to flex his muscle, and had hit two sixes and a four, but ended up nicking a ball angling away from him to the wicketkeeper. Two balls later, Bumrah had Chase lob the ball to cover. Hardik Pandya set them further back as he had Sherfane Rutherford caught behind.
After West Indies slipped from 102 for 2 to 119 for 4, Jason Holder and Rovman Powell took the attack to India. The latter also became the first West Indian to hit 150 sixes in T20Is with a flick over the square leg boundary.
Powell and Holder put on 76 runs for the fifth wicket, off just 35 balls, to take West Indies to a challenging score. While Powell finished with 34 off 19 balls, with the help of three fours and two sixes, Holder struck two fours and three sixes for a 22-ball 37.
Samson signals his intent
Chasing a sizeable total, India were quick off the blocks. Sanju Samson signalled his intent in the third over, as he hit a four and two sixes in four balls against Akeal Hosein, to score 17 runs in the over.
Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 was the highest score by an Indian in a run-chase at the T20 World Cup. Pics: ICC-cricket.com
But Hosein struck in the same over with the wicket of Abhishek Sharma, who mistimed a pull and Shimron Hetmyer raced from deep square leg to complete the catch. Ishan Kishan also fell in similar fashion to Jason Holder. At the end of powerplay, India put up 53 for 2 on the board.
Brought back into the playing XI in the previous game, Samson is rejoicing his stint at the top. The right-hand batter brought up his first T20 World Cup half-century in style, punching a ball through point. He put on a 58-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav and 42-run stand with Tilak Varma to put India in charge.
Brief scores: West Indies 195 for four in 20 overs (Shai Hope 32, Roston Chase 40, Shimron Hetmyer 27, Rovman Powell 34 not out, Jason Holder 37 not out; Jasprit Bumrah 2/36) lost to India 199 for five in 19.2 overs (Sanju Samson 97 not out, Tilak Varma 27; Jason Holder 2/38, Shamar Joseph 2/42).
