Samson blazes quickest Indian century against South Africa
Indian opener Sanju Samson blazed 107 in 50 balls – the quickest century in T20I cricket by an Indian batter against South Africa – as he led the visitors to 202 for eight wickets in the opening Wonder Cement T20 International match at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead in Durban on Friday night.
It was Samson’s second consecutive hundred following his last knock against Bangladesh, and his first away from the Indian subcontinent. The right-handed batter struck seven fours and 10 sixes in his lightning innings.
Samson and fellow opener Abhishek Sharma made their ultra-aggressive intentions clear from the opening ball after Aiden Markram had won the toss and chosen to bowl at a windy, overcast Kingsmead.
Sharma missed more than he connected, and he only survived until the fourth over when Markram at mid-off took a fine running catch off the bowling of Gerald Coetzee.
This setback only encouraged the Indian batters as Samson and Suryakumar Yadav blitzed the bowling in an electric stand of 66 in 37 balls. The South African bowlers couldn’t find their lines and lengths during this period and they paid the price, disappearing to every corner of Kingsmead. It was a particularly tough experience for Patrick Kruger who went for 35 in his two overs, legspinner Nquaba Peter (35 off three overs) and debutant Andile Simelane (27 off two overs).
Kruger did, however, claim the wicket of Yadav, caught on the boundary, but this only led to the arrival of Tilak Varma. He and Samson then added a further 77 off 34 balls for the third wicket as the South African bowlers continued to suffer.
Nqabayomzi Peter gets India's leading man ❌
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Tristan Stubbs is making a habit of clutch catches 😏
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Samson reached three figures in just 47 balls, having taken only 20 balls to go from 50 to one hundred. When Peter finally claimed his scalp, well caught by Tristan Stubbs on the boundary, he had struck seven fours and 10 sixes in his innings, a remarkable display of power hitting and canny manipulation.
To South Africa’s credit, they then restricted the Indian tail to just 35 runs for four wickets in the final five overs after India had threatened to score 230 or more.
Coetzee finished with 3/35 off his four overs and Marco Jansen an impressive 1/24 off his quota.
SOUTH AFRICA: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter
INDIA: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Varun Chakravarthy
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