 "India vs South Africa: Samson makes Proteas' bowlers dance to his tunes as Men in Blue draw first blood in T20 series")
Sanju Samson finally seems to be enjoying life as a member of the Indian cricket team. After amassing 111 off 47 balls during the third T20I between India and Bangladesh in Hyderabad on 12 October, Samson produced something similar against South Africa in Friday’s first T20I in Durban.
For once, it seems like Samson’s horror run of form is behind him. Then again, it’s still too early to say if the Kerala batter has discovered his consistency in the shortest format yet for the Men in Blue or not. That is a question that could be answered across the next three T20Is against the Proteas.
As it happened | India vs South Africa, 1st T20I in Durban
Sanju Samson, India’s saviour with the bat
On Friday, Samson was India’s saviour. Without the 30-year-old’s heroics, India could have been dismissed for a much lesser score after being asked to bat in overcast conditions. One of the reasons South Africa decided to field first was due to the moisture present on the track, which would help the seamers play their part. Only thing is, the seamers could only do their part towards the end of the Indian innings.
And by then, the damage had already been done by Samson . Samson, albeit building half-century-plus stands with Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Vama, was the lone batter who could steady India’s ship. Barring SKY and Tilak, Samson lacked consistent support but knew what was to be done. Time and again, India’s brand of cricket in T20Is has been about playing fearless cricket and Samson did exactly that.
Sanju Chetta is on fire! 🔥💥
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) November 8, 2024
Watch the 1st #SAvIND T20I LIVE on #JioCinema, #Sports18, and #ColorsCineplex! 👈#TeamIndia #JioCinemaSports #SanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/kTeX4Wf6AQ
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHe hardly put a foot wrong and having said that, he made the opposition bowlers dance to his tunes. More so, Samson tormented the spinners, so much so that he scored more than half of his runs against them (64 runs). He set the platform for that right from the early stages of powerplay. In the third over of India’s innings, Samson punished Keshav Maharaj for a four and a six. Another spinner who would get punished by Samson was Nqabayomzi Peter, a leg-spinner who is just five matches into his T20I career.
One could argue the fact that it was almost a one-man show given that the Rajasthan Royals captain scored slightly more than half of India’s total. The fact is that it was almost forgotten that Samson himself was doing all the hard work, although he did have support from SKY and Tilak. More importantly, Samson did not go for those risky shots and batted as per the match situation.
Samson’s dismissal in the 16th over by Peter, who led the way for a South African comeback. Only that, the comeback was a little too late. Gerald Coetzee, despite struggling initially, finally found his rhythm towards he end to strike at regular intervals and finish with figures of 3/37. But nothing could prevent India from posting a total in excess off 200, 202/8 to be precise.
Spinners rule the roost
South Africa’s spinners might have endured an off day but that wasn’t the case with India’s spinners. Varun Chakaravarthy (3/25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) were on top of their game, and both of them were accurate with their lines and lengths. David Miller, who has a pretty decent average against spinners (44), failed to capitalise against Varun and Ravi.
𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙. 🎯
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) November 8, 2024
Varun Chakaravarthy’s mystery spin shifts the momentum with two massive wickets! 😎 #TeamIndia #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/vNpleXN0zo
Apart from a four and a six against Varun, there was nothing much Miller could do. And his dismissal seemed inevitable at one point. A miscued shot towards Avesh Khan at deep square leg off Varun’s ball was what got Miller dismissed. Heinrich Klaasen, the other big-hitter of South Africa, also became a victim of Varun, as both of them fell in the 12th over. Ravi struck twice in the 13th over to remove Patrick Krugger and Adile Simelane.
Varun and Ravi had turned the match completely in India’s favour by then, after pacers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh set the total defence going in the powerplay.
Hopes had faded in the end for South Africa. The Proteas were 87/5 after Miller’s wicket, and that worsened to 93/7 in the 13th over. Gerland Coetzee (23 off 11 balls) played an entertaining cameo but the destiny of that match was already written by then. The Proteas were eventually all out for 141 in 17.5 overs.
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