India vs West Indies T20 World Cup 2026: Riding on Sanju Samson’s 97*, IND qualify for semis with 5-wicket win

Obviously, it's a great feeling, and the way we played, I think, as everyone said, it was a do-or-die, like a quarter-final game, and the way the boys showed character, I think, it was a great feeling. (On Sanju Samson) I always say, good things happen to good people who wait, who have a lot of patience. I said it just now as well when I met him. But then it's all his hard work, what he's been doing behind the doors when he was not playing, and he's got the fruit of it at the perfect stage. And the way he batted, took the side completely to the victory. I feel everyone bowled according to the plans. We knew 200 is always a good score to chase here in Eden with the dew and the way wicket becomes in the second inning, the ball comes onto the bat nicely. And the way batters responded later on with those small, small partnerships, I think that was the key to take the game deep. expectations will always be there, but at the same time you should know what you want to do on the field as a team. And I told the same thing to the boys. Yes, there will be pressure, there will be expectations of a lot of people coming to the ground, watching it back home. But at the same time, when a game like this comes, you have to be more courageous, you have to bring your A-game, put the best foot forward, be positive, take a positive option wherever and whenever under pressure. And I think we were quite good in taking that. When there is no pressure there is no pressure. We are nervous, there are butterflies in the stomach but how you handle it is what matters.

It means the whole world actually to me. I think right from the day I started playing, started dreaming to play for the country, I think this is the day I was waiting for. And I’m very grateful, very thankful. And I’ve always had a very special journey with lots of ups and downs, but I’ve kept on doubting myself, kept on thinking, what if, what if, can I make it, can I make it? But I kept on believing and thanks to the Lord Almighty for actually blessing me today. So I’m very happy.. I have been playing this format for a very long time. I was learing from the dugout watching the likes of Virat and greats from the game. I wanted to build a partnership. I never felt that I will do something special like this. One of the greatest days of my life. They do bring a lot of support and energy. I just watched the ball and trusted myself to play the shots.

Sanju Samson’s sensational 50-ball 97 knock helped India chase down their biggest T20 World Cup total in a virtual quarterfinal clash against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, powering the Men in Blue to the semifinals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

In a pursuit of 196, Samson played one of his best knocks under pressure to give India a famous victory over the Windies. India will now face England in the second semifinal at Wankhede Stadium in on 5th March. (Read more)

Samson hits one over mid-on and kneels on the turf and prays. That is an innings for the ages from him. Given the form he was in and the situation of the game, he pulled off one for the history books there. West Indies have played well, there is nothing to be disheartened about, but it was just one innings from Samson that took the game away from them, and that is what happens in this format when two equals meet. India will face England in the semifinal that will be another cracking game but for now this side will embrace the win.

Holder has dropped Hardik here. It was a delivery dug in from Shepard, and Hardik tried to hit it through the cover region, which was in and out of Holder's hands. Both teams have dropped a few chances today. It is one of those things that happens here in Eden. Players in the past, a few times, have complained about the way the lights are here, but most of these players would have played here quite a lot, so it cannot be an excuse. So we are probably on even keel with both sides dropping chances. Holder has come back into the attack here.

Venkata Krishna B: After India had lost Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, the win predictor on the host broadcaster was 72-28 in favour of West Indies, as they chased 196. But in a matter of three overs, Sanju Samson would singlehandedly change the tide. With the run-rate hovering around 8, between overs 7-9, Sanju, woefully out of form a week back, would change the gears as India picked up 34 runs in those three overs. His 9 boundaries and 3 sixes to reach 74* (41), striking at 180 was keeping India afloat. Samson had gotten to his fifty as India were back in the game with the win predictor revising it to 51-49.

This is another cracking partnership for India. Tilak Varma has caught upto things here and slammed a six of Roston Chase over the long-off boundary. India need 60 from 36 balls if it was normal game under the conditions we have here at Eden it should be an easy peasy chase but pressure can do wierd things to teams altough most of these Indian players would have faced these situations playing for the franchises before and might think they hold significant advantage their opposition side for tonight West Indies most of the player too do the same it must be a 55 towards for India and 45 for West Indies going into the final passage.

Shamar Joseph has come into the attack, and Surya has fallen here. He gave himself a bit of room, and Joseph bowled that one well, and Surya, who probably wanted to play a bit finer into that third man region, toe-ended it to Rutherford, who took a nice catch as the ball was falling ahead of him. A wrong time for India to lose a wicket; another few overs of that partnership would have set panic among the West Indies. Tilak Varma has walked into the middle. He needs to play a cameo here. He cannot be under the impression that batting through Samson is there for that.

Romario Shephard has come into the attack. He has picked up a hat-trick at this venue earlier against Scotland; however, today, a good spell of about 7s will make his captain happy. Partly because it is a night game and not the noon one, where he did not have to deal with dew when he picked five-fer against Scotland. Today, he will have that factor, and the wicket is better than what he bowled on that day. And in the last few overs, since Suryakumar Yadav has walked into the middle, the momentum in the game has changed. The crowd, to be fair to them, have been pretty silent through that first innings have got their voice again.

Shankar Narayan: This T20 World Cup was supposed to be Abhishek Sharma’s stage - the tournament where his fearless strokeplay would light up India’s campaign. Instead, on a night when India needed composure and sharpness, things seemed to unravel around him.

It began in the field. With India tightening the screws in the powerplay, Roston Chase miscued a chance that should have been a breakthrough. The ball went up, the opportunity clear, but Abhishek spilled it, allowing West Indies a reprieve just when the pressure had begun to mount.

Later, as the innings gathered pace, another moment slipped away. Rovman Powell, already looking dangerous, found a lifeline when another catch went down at mid-wicket. In T20 cricket, such moments can tilt games - and this one certainly felt costly.

When India began the chase of 196, they needed intent from the start, and Abhishek briefly hinted at it with two crisp boundaries. But the spark faded quickly. Attempting a pull, he mistimed it and departed for 10.

A night that promised impact ended quietly - and painfully.

Ishan Kishan has fallen here. It was a short ball into the body from Holder; it usually is his most productive shot, but on that occasion, he did not get it right. Hetmyer, who was placed at mid-wicket, took the catch. It did seem like he got the bottom edge. Usually, he bombs through the square-leg region, but not today. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav has walked into the middle. He has not lost a bilateral since he was made the captain. This side has played some sublime cricket, but the rest of his captaincy legacy will be defined on what happens in the remaining 15 overs.

Sanju Samson has started well here. He is peppering some shots on the leg side. This is good for him. India needs a start like this in this chase. Against South Africa last week, against the two left-handers, it was quite easy for South Africa to plan against the top three left-handers, but here India has a right-hander up top to break that left-handedness up the order, and it seems to be working so far. Well, while all that was unfolding from one end, Akeal Hossain picked up Abhishek Sharma. He tried to hit one through mid-wicket and got the top edge, which Hetmyer completed the catch.

Electrifying. Full house. It's a good total. If we're honest with ourselves, it's a very good wicket. Would've liked 10-15 more runs. Good to get some runs, good to put the team in a position where we can fight. Good record (150 sixes - most for WI), goes to show the longevity and the hard work and dedication I've given for WI cricket.

195 is a massive total. These are a lot of runs to get for India, they will need to have someone in the top three to deliver a punch, which they are known for, to give India any hope. The bowling, apart from that over where Bumrah picked two, has been quite ordinary, and fielding too could have been a lot better on the night. Kudos to the West Indies; they have played a sublime game thus far and did half the job. A couple of early wickets will have one leg in the semis. Opening with Chase, what an inspired move that was from them.

Good comeback over that from Arshdeep Singh, just six runs came out of it but West Indies have gone past 180 runs, which is a good total and regardless of how good this wicket is and the possibility of dew India has to put on a show in the second innings if they have to win this game.

This is a cracking partnership between Powell and Holder. Holder espically since coming in, has hit some clean blows against the Indian bowlers. He has been around for a long time and has played in most conditions across the globe it seems like his innings has also liberated Rovman Powell.

Suryakumar Yadav has finished the overs of both Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel by the 15th over. They are the fourth and fifth bowling options in this attack. It is pretty smart how Surya has rotated bowlers today. Usually, he tends to be pretty attacking with his changes, but today he has been more gone with the wait-and-watch approach.

Since the last water break, India has managed to make a comeback in this game, but with the platform West Indies have, they should be getting 180 from here, even considering Bumrah still has a couple of overs left. They have played pretty nicely today. The West Indies usually are pretty shaky against spin, but they managed them well.

Rovman Powell gets away with a close one here. It was a googly from Chakarvarthy, and Powell did not pick the delivery at all, and the ball hit the pads. Although the Indians appealed, it was not given out and was sent upstairs by Surya, and it was the umpire's call on wickets hitting, and Powell gets away with one here.

Jasprit Bumrah has come back into the attack and picked up the wicket of Hetmyer. It was a hard-length delivery from the ace-bowler, and Hetmyer tried to play through the mid-wicket region, got the under-edge, and the keeper took the catch. Hetmyer sent it upstairs for a review, and there was a spike on ultraedge.

Hetmeyar has walked into the middle here. He has been in sublime form, and he already smashed a sumptuous shot through the mid-wicket for a six. Hardik Pandya has come back to bowl his third over here. It does seem like Surya wants to preserve Bumrah's overs for the later part of the innings today.

India needs to find a method to pick wickets here. The West Indies openers, both Hope and Chase, have dealt with whatever India has thrown quite nicely. Yes, there has been a drop in chance from India, but either side of that, it has been pretty smooth. As we update, Chakarvarthy has come into attack here to bowl.

A 50-run opening partnership has come up here between Hope and Chase. What an inspired change this is turning out to be to open with Roston Chase in this crucial game; he seems to be enjoying himself. India is yet to introduce Varun Chakarvarthy here. He has bowled at least one over in the power play in most games of this World Cup.

Vinayakk M: It was a comedy of errors all around. Roston Chase pushed a length ball from Arshdeep Singh straight to Varun Chakaravarthy at cover and took off. It's not West Indies' regular opening partnership and clearly, captain Shai Hope was not on the page. Not on the same book even, as he watched where the ball was going and not his partner. Both of them got close to shake hands at the non-striker's end. But Varun's confusion overshadowed that of the West Indies batters'. He could have lobbed a simple throw to the wicketkeeper and Chase would have been well short. Instead, he fired it at the bowler's end and even that was wayward. It gave Chase enough time to get back. Hands went on the head. Varun could scarcely believe his mistake, Chase his luck. And later in the over, the batter hit a couple of fours. Salt, meet wounds.

Looks like a belter of a wicket this one here in Kolkata, the ball is coming beautifully onto the bat. The shot of the night was from Roston Chase, who drove one smoothly through the covers. The placement was perfect, the fielders did not even bother chasing that one, which ran away into the boundary. Well, India are bowling first, hoping for dew to help them later, but their first job here is to contain West Indies for a low total. As we update Surya has turned to Axar Patel early in the piece which is a pretty proactive move.

It is an interesting call from Suryakumar Yadav, who won the toss and opted to bowl first. Yes, there will be dew in the second innings, but chasing in these high-pressure games will need a different skill set. Let's see what happens. Both the Windies openers are in the middle, and the Indian new ball bowlers will get some swing and seam.

We would have done the same (bowling first). (Peaking at the right time?) Yeah, that’s the key for us. We’ve got to make sure we’re playing consistent cricket all the way through. It’s a big tournament like the World Cup, so you’ve got to ensure you’re playing best cricket when it matters most. And today is no better time to do so. (Franchise cricket experience helps?) Yeah, for sure. Especially here in India, most of the guys have been part of the IPL. And I’m sure that’s going to give them some confidence, especially playing against the opposition and playing in some, I would call it, familiar conditions. So you’ve got to use that experience in your favour and hopefully you can come out on top today. (Playing at the Eden Gardens) Yeah, like I said, it’s a do or die game today. And the guys are up for it. Like I said, this is what you play for. You come to play against big teams, best teams and in moments like this. So it’s another big game. We know what we need to do to win this one. So we’re looking forward to it. We’ve got one change. So Akeal Hosein comes back and Brandon King misses out today.

Shai Hope(w/c), Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph

Ishan Kishan has made a strong connection on 33% of his 115 balls faced in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the highest among batters with 60+ balls faced; in fact, his strike rate of 186.1 is bettered only by Australia’s Mitchell Marsh (196.7) among players in the category.

Suryakumar Yadav is one 50+ score away from becoming the third India batter to log 30 or more such scores in men’s T20Is (Virat Kohli – 39; Rohit Sharma – 37); he has logged four 50+ scores against West Indies, his joint second most against any opponent in the format (5 each vs South Africa & New Zealand).

No side has scored a higher percentage of their runs in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup via boundaries than West Indies (65.8%); in fact, 22.9% of their runs have come via singles, the lowest such share by any side in the ongoing edition of the competition.

India have lost each of their last two men’s T20Is when batting second on the day, after winning three such games on the trot prior to that; the last and the only time the Men in Blue lost more such games in succession was between June and December in 2009 (3 games). (Credit Opta)

India have won five of their six games at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (L1), having won more in a single edition only once before (W8 in 2024); in fact, their 9.3 runs per over in the ongoing edition is their best in a single edition of the competition. (Credit Opta)

“The best chatter is when you let the bat do all the talking! Good Innings sir Abhishek, keep pushing," Yuvraj wrote on his Insta story.

"I don’t think bowling is a concern. It was a good batting track. My only concern is the sixth bowler. Did you see where Dube was bowling? He was bowling on the sixth stump. I have not seen bowling like that," he said on 'Cheeky Cheeka'.

He then said, "I think they had the luxury of runs behind them so they wanted to give some bowling practice. The question of net run rate was out of the window. It was just about winning the game," he added.

The match, starting at 7 PM, will be played under "mostly clear" skies with just 17% cloud cover, ensuring good visibility as per AccuWeather. The temperature at toss time will be a pleasant 27° C, cooling down to 24° C by 10 PM. The day will reach a maximum of 34° C by mid-afternoon under sunny skies, before a brief cloudy period around noon gives way to clear evening conditions. A steady southerly wind blowing at 19-20 km/h during match hours could aid swing bowling. Humidity will rise from 46% at 6 PM to 69% by 8 PM, making conditions feel slightly sticky for players. With precipitation chances at 0% across all hours, the virtual quarterfinal will proceed without any weather interruptions under comfortable evening skies.

"I don't think there's many lineups that can boast Romario Shepherd walking in at number nine. But I think that's also a feature of all the teams in the tournament now, certainly the teams that have done well, England bat really deep, New Zealand bat really deep, India bat really deep. We have the luxury of someone like Axar, if he doesn't come in early, coming in at eight."

Brandon King, Shai Hope (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde/Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph