England’s Sam Curran (right) and captain Harry Brook (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) India amassed a mammoth total of 253/7 against England in the T20 World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede, largely thanks to Sanju Samson’s brilliant knock. The wicket-keeper batsman smashed 89 off just 42 balls, hitting eight fours and seven sixes, after scoring an unbeaten 97 in the previous match. He built a strong partnership with Ishan Kishan (39 off 18) and Shivam Dub (43 off 25) to put the England bowlers under pressure early in the innings.
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England captain Harry Brook won the toss and elected to bowl first, but India started aggressively. Samson attacked from the first over, taking on Jofra Archer and other bowlers with powerful shots down the ground. He also got an early lifeline when Brook dropped a simple catch midway through the game. After that, Samson continued to dominate and reached his fifty in just 26 balls, adding 97 runs with Kishan for the second wicket.Towards the end the pace slowed slightly as England took a few wickets. Samson fell trying to reach his maiden T20 World Cup century, caught by Phil Salt off Will Jacks. Suryakumar Yadav scored only 11 and Dube was out after a mix-up with Hardik Pandya, who contributed a quick 27 off 12 balls. Tilak Varma also chipped in with a late cameo and hit 27 off just seven balls.During England’s fielding matches, former England captain Michael Vaughan joked on social media about their poor catching. “My sports academy may have to reopen,” Vaughan said on X.Despite the late wickets, India’s tally left England with a very challenging target in a high-pressure semi-final encounter.
