T20 World Cup 2026 results: Sanju Samson’s 97 gives India win over Windies and decides England half

With 50,597 blue-clad spectators packed into the stands at Eden Gardens, the weight of a nation on their shoulders, Samson played an excellent role.

This would have been the kind of chase that Virat Kohli would have handled brilliantly in the past, where temperament was a closely related factor to talent.

Samson toppled the pillars of the West Indies bowling attack in a methodical manner – expertly choosing his moments to attack and increasing the pace of the chase with ruthless calculation.

There were four sixes but the risk-free control of 12 fours, which barely came off the mat, emphasized that the most important muscle in T20 cricket is the mind, not the biceps.

Samson’s ingenuity in using the crease to direct square arrows through the back point was particularly striking.

“I have been playing in this system for a long time and learning from the greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma,” Sampson said in his post-match interview after being named man of the match.

“That’s important to note. I never felt like I would do something like this. This is one of the greatest days of my life.”

Samson has three T20 international hundreds to his name, but the Kerala man’s career – who studied a degree in English literature – has been a rollercoaster that has seen him come in and out of the Indian side.

In fact, this was his third World Cup match after two modest 22nd and 24th matches against Zimbabwe and Namibia.

After whipping Sheppard to the square-leg boundary for six, Sampson clipped the West Indies seamer over the head of mid-on to seal a memorable victory and perhaps the defining moment of his career.

Then he knelt down, made the sign of the cross, and looked up at the sky.

While Samson is not necessarily Kohli’s heir, he has managed to get India over the line by a smidgen in the style of the Indian batting legend.

“This means the world to me,” Samson added. “Since the day I started playing, this is the day I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been on a special journey and I doubted myself at times, but I kept believing.”

England is next.