Mumbai, March 5: Sanju Samson delivered an impressive performance in the T20 World Cup 2026, scoring a half-century for the second consecutive match. During the ongoing semi-final against England at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, he reached his fifty in just 26 balls. Samson scored 89 runs off 42 balls, hitting 7 sixes and 8 fours, thereby equaling Virat Kohli’s record.
Samson now shares the top spot for the highest score by an Indian in T20 World Cup knockout matches. Kohli previously set the record with an unbeaten 89 runs against the West Indies in 2016. Kohli also scored 77 runs against Sri Lanka in 2014 and 76 runs against South Africa in 2024, while Gautam Gambhir had made 75 runs against Pakistan in 2007.
Earlier, on March 1, Samson played a crucial role in securing India’s place in the semi-finals by scoring an unbeaten 97 runs against the West Indies in a decisive Super-8 match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Despite a slow start in the tournament, where he managed only 22 runs against Namibia and 24 runs against Zimbabwe, Samson silenced his critics with his recent performances.
In Thursday’s semi-final, England won the toss and opted to field first, inviting India to bat. The team faced an early setback when Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for just 9 runs off 7 balls, leaving India at 20 runs. However, Samson formed a solid partnership with Ishan Kishan, adding 97 runs for the second wicket off 45 balls, and later partnered with Shivam Dube for 43 runs off 22 balls. By the end of 13.1 overs, India had scored 160 runs for the loss of 3 wickets.
