'World-class' Samson delivers in India's hour of need

Within the space of a handful of days, Sanju Samson has gone from the outer to leading his nation into a home World Cup semi-final as India produced their highest successful run chase in men's T20 World Cup history to down West Indies in a virtual elimination clash in Kolkata.

Set 196 to seal a semi-final spot after both India and West Indies crushed Zimbabwe but lost to undefeated South Africa in their opening two Super Eight matches, Samson peeled off an imperious 97 not out from 50 balls to edge his side over the line with four balls to spare at Eden Gardens.

The right-hander seized his chance in his third match of the tournament after India re-jigged their opening combination following a heavy defeat to the Proteas last Sunday, which left the co-hosts needing to win their two remaining Super Eight matches to reach the knockout stage.

A giant of the Indian Premier League where he sits 14th on the all-time run-scoring charts, the 31-year-old was forced to bide his time behind champion batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for a crack at a major ICC tournament, with a spot at the top of the order opening up when they retired following India's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph.

Samson played 32 of India's 41 T20 internationals between the last T20 World Cup and this year's event but fell out of favour following a lean series against New Zealand in January where he managed just 46 runs in five innings.

He made his World Cup debut earlier in the tournament, scoring 22 against Namibia in the group stage when Abhishek Sharma was hospitalised with a stomach bug and missed the match, before returning to the bench to run the drinks.

But with the top-ranked men's T20I team wanting more from their opening pair after beginning the Super Eight phase with a 76-run loss to South Africa, Samson won a recall to face Zimbabwe, scoring 24 in a rapid first-wicket stand of 48 to lay the platform for India's mammoth total of 4-256.

It remains India's best opening partnership of the tournament so far given Abhishek failed to get off the mark in his first three World Cup innings before striking 55 against Zimbabwe, and meant Samson retained his place in the XI for their do-or-die clash with the Windies.

Samson has now etched himself into tournament folklore with his 97 unbeaten surpassing Kohli's pair of 82s (against Australia in Mohali in 2016 and Pakistan in Melbourne in 2022) for the highest individual score by an Indian man in a T20 World Cup run chase.

"We always knew the talent that Sanju had – three T20I hundreds, not many people have it," Indian coach Gautam Gambhir said post-match.

"Obviously, he had a tough series against New Zealand, so sometimes it's important to give him a break as well, because you want to get the guy off that pressure situation as well.

"The guys who are part of this squad are world-class players and that's why they're representing the country.

"We always knew that whenever we needed him in the World Cup games, he'll come and deliver it for us.

"Against Zimbabwe, yes, he delivered it for us. We got a start that we wanted in the first three overs and then again (against West Indies) … he showcased his talent.

"This is what we expect from Sanju (and) to do it more consistently.

"He is a world-class player. It was all about backing him and then when the team needed him the most … he showed his true potential as well."

By overhauling West Indies' 4-195, it was also India's highest successful run chase in a T20 World Cup match, surpassing their 4-176 to beat South Africa in the 2014 semi-final in Bangladesh.

But Gambhir said his side never felt "out of the game" despite it also being the highest successful run chase in this year's tournament's 52 matches to date.

"I've played a lot of games at Eden Gardens; I've seen a lot of games in Eden Gardens as well, and it's a great chasing ground," Gambhir said.

"We knew that it's probably the quickest outfield in the world at the moment, so the chase is never out of control and if you have wickets in hand, you can chase anything on this ground.

"We saw that in the IPL as well, where 260-270 was getting chased down.

"Partnerships are important, irrespective of which format we are playing. That partnership between Sanju and Surya (Yadav, of 57 runs for the third wicket) obviously settled the nerves as well.

"Those small partnerships can play a massive role … and Tilak (Varma, 27 off 15 balls) broke the game for us in the middle with that cameo and then Sanju batted until the end.

"I thought it was a very clinical run chase.

"We never felt in the 20 overs that the chase was away from us; the guys kept it in control.

"Yes, there were times in bilateral games where we could chase the target in 16, 17 overs, but this is World Cup and the pressure is different, and the quality is different as well."

Gambhir, and the entire host nation, will be hoping their batters can reprise their heroics on Thursday (Friday, 12.30am AEDT) when India next take on England at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, the day after South Africa meet New Zealand in the other semi-final in Kolkata.