On the last weekend night, all Indians were on an emotional ride where, on the one hand, war tensions dominated the headlines, and on the other side, India’s semi-final stake hung in the balance against the West Indies. The pain of 2016 haunted all day, in which India faltered in the semi-finals against the same rivals. Just like a boy breathing his first air after tough board exams, the night brought relief to every Indian as Sanju Samson’s bat spoke louder in front of every delivery of the West Indies. Scoring an unbeaten 97 runs, Chetta changed the fate for India and India qualified for the semi-finals by 5 wickets.
In a match where the scoreboard pressure can easily sandwich the players in the second innings. The boy from Kerala stood tall and crafted an innings that is larger in stature than an elephant standing on the shore of Thiruvananthapuram.
West Indies is out of the race for the World Cup
On the batting pitch of Eden Gardens, the West Indies had displayed a good intent from the start and done more than put India in trouble. At first, they secured a 45-run stand in the power play. In the fast-moving games like this, Shai Hope’s slow innings of 32 runs in 33 balls went wrong for them; they fell short of 20 runs despite Powell and Holder’s good finish. Among the others, Roston Chase, who came as an opener, stood tall with scoring 40 runs, but Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford fell short. Varun Chakravarthy took the first wicket of the match by sending Shai Hope to Pavillion after that, Hetmyer, who looked good, got caught behind the wicket on the delivery by Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah also jabbed Roston Chase in the same over. Interestingly, Surya Kumar Yadav did not use any sixth bowlers in this match; Hardik and Varun both conceded 40 runs and took a wicket each.
In the chase, just like his fielding in the must-win game, Abhishek Sharma faltered again. Sanju Samson carried forward the innings but did not get support from Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav. Both returned to the pavilion after getting caught on pace delivery. Then came Tilak Varma, another hero from the south zone, who controlled the innings with Samson and built the most crucial 42-run partnership in just 26 balls. After Tilak’s departure, Hardik came and joined Sanju, who was in the driver's seat, and hammered four to bring the important win for India. With this win, India remained alive in the World Cup and is all set to meet England in the semi-finals on the eve of the fifth of March.
From teenage prodigy to dethroned record-holder: A fearless century that once lit up the IPL
Sanju Samson was once the youngest Indian to score a century in the Indian Premier League. He achieved the feat in 2013 while playing for Rajasthan Royals, scoring 109 off 63 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the age of 18 years and 169 days. At the time, this made him the youngest Indian to score an IPL hundred. However, that record was later broken by Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who went on to become the youngest Indian centurion in IPL history, surpassing Samson’s milestone.
