Sanju Samson special steers India past West Indies into semi-finals

Match Overview

India and the West Indies locked horns in the 52nd match, the last of the Super Eights of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, March 1. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first.

The Men in Maroon implemented a tactical change as Roston Chase opened for the first time in his international career. The bowling all-rounder was the aggressor as captain Shai Hope played second fiddle. The batters attacked intermittently to take their team to 45 for no loss in the powerplay, also helped by India's lapses in the field.

The openers carried on in the same vein until Varun Chakravarthy bowled Hope for 32 off 33 in the ninth over with 68 runs on the board. That brought the danger man Shimron Hetmyer to the crease and the southpaw played an attacking cameo of 27 off 12 before Jasprit Bumrah scalped him. Two balls later, the long stay of Chase also came to an end as Bumrah struck twice in the same over.

West Indies lost some momentum at this stage, finding themselves at 103/3 in the 12th over. They were not going to regain it for the next couple of overs as Sherfane Rutherford, who also looked threatening, was caught behind. The Caribbean side was in danger of losing their way in case a wicket or two fell soon, but Rovman Powell and Jason Holder ensured they didn't lose any more for the rest of the innings.

The right-handers launched a full-fledged attack after a few sighters and the West Indies looked like going past the 180-run mark now. The batters took out 24 runs from an Arshdeep Singh over which opened the floodgates. Dropped catches did not help India's case either as the duo helped their team reach a highly competitive 195/4.

India started with a mix of caution and aggression. Sanju Samson looked positive from the get-go though as Abhishek Sharma struggled to find his usual flow. Eventually, the southpaw succumbed to a spinner again, Akeal Hosein in this case, for 10(11). Ishan Kishan could not score many as well as India were two down for 41 in the fifth over.

Suryakumar joined Samson as the latter continued in the same vein. The Indian captain was unable to break free, but played an important supporting role to the Kerala batter. Samson reached his first fifty of the tournament off 26 balls in the 10th over as India needed 98 runs in the second half.

The third-wicket partnership, meanwhile, lasted 58 runs off 35 balls as Suryakumar fell to an excellent catch from Rutherford. Tilak Varma played a crucial cameo of 27 runs off 15 balls to provide a much-needed boost to the chase as Samson subsequently combined with Hardik Pandya. The opener continued to play in the same manner throughout, scoring boundaries at regular intervals and took India to a memorable win by five wickets and four balls to spare. Notably, this was India's highest successful chase in T20 World Cups.

India qualified for the semi-finals with this victory and they will meet England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 5.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the Match

Sanju Samson

The Indian fans probably did not miss the fireworks from Abhishek today as Samson took on the mantle to not only be the aggressor but also an anchor to lead India into the last four. It was a sensible innings from a highly talented batter who has missed out in many matches in the past due to lack of responsible batting at times. The right-hander paced his innings perfectly tonight and chose the right deliveries to attack, playing a mature knock which augurs well for India with the semi-final on the horizon.

Turning Point

The third-wicket partnership between Samson and Varma was crucial in the context of the game. The team needed 97 runs from 58 balls when Varma arrived and, importantly, stability and run-flow to keep their chances alive. The pair succeeded in achieving that as by the time the stand ended, India required 55 runs from 32 balls which was very much gettable with Pandya, Dube, and Axar to come next.

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Suryakumar Yadav (IND)

"Obviously it's a great feeling. It was like a quarter-final game. The way the boys showed character, it was a great thing. I always say good things happen to good people who wait. It's all his hard work that he was doing when he wasn't playing and now he's got the fruit. I feel everyone bowled according to the plans. We knew 200 is always a good score to chase. The ball comes on to the bat nicely because of the dew and our plan was to take the game deep. Very happy to be there. The way we played from the first game, I think we deserve to be there in Mumbai. But we won't think of it now. We will take the flight, get to Mumbai and see what to do. When there is no pressure there is no pressure. We are nervous, there are butterflies in the stomach but how you handle it is what matters."

Losing Team Captain, Shai Hope (WI)

"Maybe a few short, especially on a chasing ground such as this. Probably could have gone a bit more at the end. Probably could have got more at the start as well. He is one of their main strike bowlers. Whenever he has got the ball in his hands something is going to happy. Hety (Hetmyer) was going really well. I thought we were good. The way we adapted to different conditions was good. Forde was good with the ball. Akeal (Hossain) got us wickets as well. Just didn't get over the line today to continue the tournament. You never want to end at this stage. One more game you are in the semis and if you have a good game you are in the final. We got to make sure you play the best cricket on the day. Take the crucial moments and capitalize."