New Delhi: Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson roared back to form in the fourth and final T20I match against South Africa on Friday.
Samson, who suffered two successive ducks in the last two games after hitting a century in the series opener, slammed a fiery ton to become the first ever player to smash three T20I tons in a calendar year.
Samson looked in a great touch right from the word go after Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bat first in the decisive T20I contest. Along with opener Abhishek Sharma, who was out for a swift 18-ball 36-run knock, Samson stitched a partnership of 73 runs for the opening wicket giving India a dream start in the crucial encounter and then partnered with ruthless Tilak Varma, who also smashed a century, to stich a record partnership for any wicket in T20Is.
Samson-Tilak record partnership
After India lost the first wicket of Abhishek in the 6th over, Samson and Tilak dominated ruthlessly thrashing the Proteas bowlers mercilessly around the park. The duo together stitched a record 210-run stand off 86 deliveries to power India to a mammoth score of 283/1 in 20 overs. Samson remained unbeaten on 109 off 56 deliveries while Tilak scored 120 not out off just 47 balls.
The duo together smashed as many as 19 sixes in the first innings, with Samson hitting 9 while Tilak smashing 10 maximums. Their carnage also included 15 boundaries (Tilak 9, Samson 6) as they created the highest partnership record for any wicket in the shortest format. This was also the highest innings total score in South Africa by any team and India’s fastest to 200 runs in just 14.1 overs.
Highest total in a T20I bw two Full Member sides
297/6 Ind vs Ban Hyderabad 2024
283/1 Ind vs SA Johannesburg 2024 *
278/3 Afg vs Ire Dehradun 2019
267/3 Eng vs WI Tarouba 2023