As India faced England in the World Cup semi-finals, Samson hit 97 not out and the West Indian bowling suffered a crushing defeat in Kolkata.
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Published March 1, 2026
Sanju Samson produced one of the most composed innings under the pressure of a run chase to lead India to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup with a five-wicket win over West Indies in Kolkata.
Samson, who had been missed in the previous three matches, played in the eleven in the previous match and made his 97th appearance as India achieved an impressive win in front of a packed Eden Gardens crowd on Sunday.
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The wicketkeeper-batsman became the only Indian player to score over 30 runs when the defending champions faced the Maroons in the winner-take-all Super Eights game.
In the process, he became the highest score by an Indian player in a T20 World Cup run chase, surpassing Virat Kohli’s 82 runs against Australia in 2016 and Pakistan in 2022.
The co-hosts face England in the second semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday, while New Zealand and South Africa meet in Kolkata in the first round of the last four on Wednesday.
Samson’s calm demeanor in front of a home crowd with high expectations and high expectations laid the foundation for India’s pursuit, which lost star batsman Abhishek Sharma in the third over.
The 31-year-old from South India then took control of the innings and reached the legal limit with a 50-ball knock. Samson’s not out 97 came from 12 fours and four sixes.
Although they received brief relief from India’s top and middle-order batsmen, no one crossed the 20-run mark until Tilak Verma scored 27 off 15 balls for 42 runs with Samson.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav (18) and Hardik Pandya (17) also contributed to the total, sealing the score with two off Samson’s bat in the final over.
West Indian pacers Shamar Joseph and Jason Holder took two wickets each as their teammates struggled to control the flow of runs from Samson’s bat.
Earlier, West Indies got their innings off to a quick start with a 68-run opening partnership between captain Shai Hope and Roston Chase.
Chase, who scored 40 off 25 balls, was the more aggressive of the two openers, making the most of Abhishek Sharma’s drop catches and facing Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah in the first six overs.
Hope was fired after 32 games due to poor innings and was replaced by in-form batsman Simran Hetmyer.
The fifth-ranked run-scorer in the tournament increased his speed to 27 off 12 balls before being caught by Bumrah.
West Indies were reduced to 119-4 in 15 overs and it looked like India would take control soon after, but strong finishing from Rovman Powell and Jason Holder lifted the 2012 and 2016 champions to 195.
In front of a packed Eden Gardens, Powell was unbeaten on 34 off 22 balls and Holder was unbeaten on 37 balls as they looked to put pressure on the pre-tournament favorites.
Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers for India by picking up two important wickets in his four overs.
Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy received the remaining two West Indian wickets.
