Promoted as an opener after India’s T20 World Cup triumph, the slot seems to have opened up Sanju Samson to bring out his natural attacking instinct.
IND vs SA, 1st T20I
A short 56-metre boundary on one side; a strong wind from the beach side to factor; a South Africa attack that lacked X-factor and a pitch that narrowed down the margin of error for bowlers. The conditions at Kingsmead, Durban for the first T20I was straight out of fantasy for any batsman. And And Sanju Samson made full use of it, capitalising on the ideal conditions, the 29-year-old put on a glorious stroke-making exhibition, becoming the first Indian to post successive centuries in T20Is.
The century ensured India had 202 to defend, a total that seemed par but not beyond South Africa’s reach, especially given their firepower. After Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan provided breakthroughs in the powerplay, India still had to overcome Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. And in successive overs (11 & 12),Varun and Bishnoi picked up two wickets each to pull the plug on the chase as India won by a margin of 61 runs. The two spinners picked up six between them while conceding only 53 runs in eight overs that brought the game in India’s control.
Earlier, after a spellbinding 47-ball 111 against Bangladesh in the last T20I India played, Samson followed it up with 107 that came off just 50 deliveries on Friday. After a turbulent start-stop international career that began in 2015 which has seen him play 34 matches in the shortest format, Samson now appears totally in place.
Samson power
And in need of a total in excess of 200 on this pitch and also factoring in South Africa’s batting might, India needed one of their top order batsmen to bat long and big. And Samson single-handedly ensured he did both while also ensuring the run-rate stayed over 10 an over as long as he stayed in the middle. Given the odds to overcome, South Africa’s plan in the powerplay–though it didn’t yield much success–was understandable. With India packing the batting order with left-right combination, South Africa were prepared to bring on the spinners in the powerplay. With fielding restrictions in play and India bound to come hard, they kept Jansen and Coetzee for the back.
And Samson wasted no time to free his arms. After finding a boundary of Aiden Markram, he greeted Keshav Maharaj with a boundary and a six. Samson’s game plan against the spinners, including the leg-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter was simple :anything that was pitched up or given some air would be treated with total disdain and straight in the V. If they erred in length and bowled it marginally short, Samson would drop back in a fraction and deposit it with all his power over mid-wicket. Six of his 10 hits over the boundary came off the spinners with Peter alone feeding four of them.
The seamers, barring the exception of Andile Simelane, were not generous with their full deliveries. But here is where Samson showed why he is special: A couple of pick up shots off Jansen and a lofted cover drive off Simelane were pure treat. Blessed with a good hand-eye co-ordination, the last moment shuffle, where Samson would go deep inside the crease, repeatedly unsettled the seamer’s length. It made him get below the ball and also fetch enough elevation.
India:
202/8 (Sanju Samson 107,Tilak Verma 33; Gerald Coetzee 3/37)
South Africa:
141 (Heinrich Klaasen 25; Varun Chakravarty 3/25, Ravi Bishnoi 3/28)