Sanju Samson on Wednesday (January 22) came out all guns blazing with the bat in the first T20I between India and England at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Bowling first, India came up with a brilliant display as they bowled out England for a modest total of 132 runs. Asked to bat first, England got off to a disastrous start, losing two wickets in three overs. Arshdeep Singh struck in the first over to send back Phil Salt for a three-ball duck in the first over.
In the third over, the left-arm pacer struck again to send back Ben Duckett and reduce England to 17 for 2. England captain Jos Buttler then hit a series of boundaries to give the innings a boost so necessary. He and Harry Brook shared 48 runs for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy in the 8th over.
At the same time, the India spinner also dismissed Liam Livingstone for a duck to leave England 4 down for 65. After that, England continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and were eventually all out for 132 runs.
At the end of the 10th over, they were on 74 for 4 and looked destined to post a total of over 150. However, India's bowlers did a good job to restrict England to just 132 runs . Buttler was the top scorer for the visitors, scoring 68 off 44 balls.
No other England batsman could reach the 20-run mark. For India, Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 wickets, while Arshdeep, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel claimed two wickets each.
Sanju Samson takes Gus Atkinson to task:
After the bowler's brilliant show, it was the batsmen's turn to deliver and Sanju Samson did not disappoint. The in-form batsman, who has hit three centuries in his last 5 T20I innings, started his innings with a bang, taking Gus Atkinson to the clean sheet.
He started the innings by playing 5 balls with straight points in the first over bowled by Jofra Archer before taking a single on the last ball. And in the second over, Sanju Samson was at his best while toying with Atkinson. He hit the pacer for four fours and a six in the over to collect 22 runs.
Watch Sanju Samson blast Gus Atkinson:
4⃣, 4⃣, 6⃣, 4⃣, 4⃣
Dial S for Stunning, Dial S for Sanju Samson 🔥 🔥
Watch the match ▶️ https://t.co/4jwTIC5zzs#TeamIndia | #INVENT | @IamSanjuSamson | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/F6Ras6wYeb
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 22, 2025
Atkinson looked absolutely livid after the over and didn't get to bowl another over in the powerplay. Talking about the game, India were on 93/2 at the end of the 9th at the time of writing this report.
Gus Atkinson's reaction after Samson smashed 22 runs in his over. pic.twitter.com/qgBx7lfEpS
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 22, 2025