IND vs BAN third T20I: Hurricane Samson leaves Bangladesh in tatters

Sanju Samson’s 47-ball 111 and the 173-run second-wicket association with skipper Suryakumar (75) power India to a humongous 297, its highest in the shortest format; Men in Blue sweep series 3-0

Sanju Samson (111, 47b, 11x4, 8x6) and Suryakumar Yadav (75, 35b, 8x4, 5x6) feasted on a hapless Bangladesh attack to propel India to a comfortable win in the third and final T20I here on Saturday. An explosive batting display from the Indians enabled a 3-0 sweep of the T20I leg, to go with the 2-0 win in the Tests held earlier.

Batting first, a thrill-a-minute ride took India to a monstrous 297 for six. This was the second highest innings total in T20Is, behind Nepal’s 314 for three against Mongolia last year. India easily moved past its previous best T20I score — a Rohit Sharma-inspired 260 for six against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017.

A heavily bruised Bangladesh stood no chance in the chase, going down by 133 runs.

The 24,000-odd spectators at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium got their money’s worth as Samson and Suryakumar lit up the night with a blazing 173-run second-wicket stand off 70 deliveries. Samson started proceedings by making room and driving Taskin Ahmed through cover, and flicking the pacer past midwicket when he strayed on the pads. Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain had the worst of it when Samson battered him for five sixes in the 10th over. Rishad, like many of his colleagues, erred in length and paid a heavy price.

A sweetly timed backfoot drive over cover and into the stands off left-arm speedster Mustafizur Rahman showed that Samson was in scintillating form. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter brought up his maiden T20I hundred off 40 balls. Samson celebrated the second-fastest T20I century by an Indian with a huge smile and arms flexed.

Captain Suryakumar was not far behind, thrilling the crowd with an adventurous scoop to send a Tanzim Hasan Sakib bouncer over the wicketkeeper’s head for six. Suryakumar was in the zone — not even a dangerous beamer from Taskin fazed the Mumbai cricketer. The Samson-Suryakumar show took India to an incredible 152 for one at the end of 10 overs. The nightmare continued for Bangladesh even after Samson and Suryakumar departed. It was then time for Riyan Parag (34, 13b, 1x4, 4x6) and Hardik Pandya (47, 18b, 4x4, 4x6) to make merry.

Bangladesh had a complete meltdown in the 18th over, when ‘keeper Litton Das lobbed a throw over the bowler’s head when both batters were stranded at one end.

Off the first ball of the Bangladesh reply, Parvez Hossain Emon was bounced out by Mayank Yadav. The visitors could not catch a break.

Wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi, drafted into the XI in place of Arshdeep Singh, picked up three wickets. Litton (42, 25b) and Towhid Hridoy (63 n.o., 42b) shored up their individual tallies even as their team’s cause was long lost.

Published - October 12, 2024 10:37 pm IST