Sanju Samson’s breathtaking second century was beautifully complemented by spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi as India outclassed South Africa by a whopping 61 runs in the first T20 International to go 1-0 up in the four-match series in Durban on Friday (November 8, 2024).
Often panned for not realising the minefield of talent that he is, Samson became the first Indian batter to hit back-to-back centuries in T20 Internationals as his 50-ball-107 with as many as 10 monstrous sixes took India to 202 for 8 in 20 overs.
This despite India managing a mere 35 runs in the last five overs.
In reply, it was Varun (3/25 in 4 overs), who literally killed the contest by getting Heinrich Klaasen (25 off 22 balls) and David Miller (18 off 22 balls) in a space of three deliveries in the 12th over with South Africa being shot out for 141 in 17.5 overs.
But no praise is enough for Bishnoi (3/28 in 4 overs), who delivered a brilliant spell of 3/28 in 4 overs. In the 11th over, he bowled five consecutive dot balls to Miller, leaving the South African batter struggling to read his googlies as pressure mounted on the Proteas which was expertly capitalized on by Varun.
In the 13th over, Bishnoi followed Varun by getting a couple of wickets more as an Indian victory became a mere formality.
On a reasonably good batting track, Varun-Bishnoi duo bowled 27 dot balls between them after Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan did the initial damage.
Sanju: The Real Samson
On a breezy Durban evening with crosswinds blowing across the Kingsmead, Sanju showed Samson-like strength apart from silken grace that one can associate with Rohit Sharma’s halcyon days.
There were pulled sixes off short balls from leg-spinner Nqabyomzi Peter and to length deliveries from pacers, he made room and tonked them down the ground.
The clarity in his shot selection and how cleverly he was always one up on South Africans in terms of using their field placings to his advantage spoke volumes of his improvement as a batter in recent times. The best part about Samson is his new-found consistency and finding his mojo as an opener in the shortest format.
Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, the two regular openers are currently busy with Test commitments along with Rishabh Pant but even when these three are present, they will have to make way for Samson rather than other way round.
The best shot which would be etched in the memory for the longest time would be a lofted six over extra cover off seamer Andile Semilane where the batter holding the pose post execution was sight to behold.
He added 66 runs in just 5.5 overs with Suryakumar Yadav (21) and another 77 with Tilak Varma (33) in 5.4 overs.
His performance raised visions of a score of close to 250 but pacers Gerald Coetzee (3/37 in 4 overs) and Marco Jansen (1/24 in 4 overs) bowled brilliantly at the death to not only get wickets but also slip in a generous number of dot balls to curtail the damage inflicted by Samson during the first 15 overs.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA
Sanju Samson c Stubbs b Peter 107 (50b, 7×4, 10×6), Abhishek Sharma c Markram b Coetzee 7 (8b, 1×4), Suryakumar Yadav c Simelane b Kruger 21 (17b, 2×4, 1×6), Tilak Varma c Jansen b Maharaj 33 (18b, 3×4, 2×6), Hardik Pandya c Jansen b Coetzee 2 (6b), Rinku Singh c Klaasen b Coetzee 11 (10b, 2×4), Axar Patel c Stubbs b Jansen 7 (7b, 1×4), Arshdeep Singh (not out) 5 (4b, 1×4), Ravi Bishnoi run out 1 (3b); Extras (w-5, nb-3): 8; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 202.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-24 (Abhishek, 3.1 overs), 2-90 (Suryakumar, 8.6), 3-167 (Tilak, 14.4), 4-175 (Samson, 15.4), 5-181 (Hardik, 16.5), 6-194 (Rinku, 18.5), 7-199 (Axar, 19.1), 8-202 (Bishnoi, 19.6).
SOUTH AFRICA BOWLING
Jansen 4-0-24-1, Markram 1-0-10-0, Maharaj 4-0-34-1, Coetzee 4-0-37-3, Peter 3-0-35-1, Kruger 2-0-35-1, Simelane 2-0-27-0.
SOUTH AFRICA
Aiden Markram c Samson b Arshdeep 8 (4b, 2×4), Ryan Rickelton c Tilak b Varun 21 (11b, 3×4, 1×6), Tristan Stubbs c Suryakumar b Avesh 11 (11b, 1×6), Heinrich Klaasen c Axar b Varun 25 (22b, 2×4, 1×6), David Miller c Avesh b Varun 18 (22b, 1×4, 1×6), Patrick Kruger c Hardik b Bishnoi 1 (2b), Marco Jansen c Hardik b Bishnoi 12 (8b, 1×4, 1×6), Andile Simelane lbw b Bishnoi 6 (4b, 1×6), Gerald Coetzee run out 23 (11b, 3×6), Keshav Maharaj b Avesh 5 (9b), Nqabayomzi Peter (not out) 5 (3b, 1×4); Extras (w-6): 6; Total (in 17.5 overs): 141.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-8 (Markram, 0.4), 2-30 (Stubbs, 3.3), 3-44 (Rickelton, 5.2), 4-86 (Klaasen, 11.3), 5-87 (Miller, 11.5), 6-87 (Kruger, 12.1), 7-93 (Simelane, 12.5), 8-114 (Jansen, 14.6), 9-135 (Coetzee, 16.5).
INDIA BOWLING
Arshdeep 3-0-25-1, Avesh 2.5-0-28-2, Hardik 3-0-27-0, Varun 4-0-25-3, Bishnoi 4-0-28-3, Axar 1-0-8-0.
Toss: South Africa.
PoM: Samson.
India won by 61 runs to lead four-match series 1-0.
Second T20I: November 10, Gqeberha.
Published – November 08, 2024 08:24 pm IST
