Sun Mar 1 ’26 by KRISSANIA YOUNG
India 199 for 5 (Samson 97*, Varma 27; Holder 2-38) count West Indies 195 for 4 (Chase 40, Holder 37; Bumrah 2-36) with 5 wickets
West Indies were eliminated from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after a 5-wicket loss to India at Eden Gardens on Sunday. The Caribbean side overcame a slow start to put the hosts at 196 for victory, before a monstrous innings from Sanju Samson secured an India win.
Samson was at the heart of everything India did in the chase. The opener’s 50-ball unbeaten 97 meant he played in every partnership before taking 10 runs from the first two deliveries of the 20th, securing a semi-final spot for the home side.
He and India were alert at the start, before right-hander Akeal Hosein attacked in the third over. He hit two sixes and a four before Hosein responded with the wicket of Abhishek Sharma (10). Jason Holder then dismissed Ishan Kishan for a similar score to leave India 53 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.
Samson shared a partnership of 58 runs (off 35 balls) with skipper Suryakumar Yadav (18) for the 3rd wicket before putting on 42 runs (26 balls) with Tilak Varma (27) for the 4th.
Although India needed another 56 off 32 balls when Holder (2/38) had Varma caught in the 15th over, Hardik Pandya (17) and Shivam Dube (8*) provided ample support for Samson, who got them home at 199 for 5 with four balls to spare.
With Akeal Hosein returning to the XI, West Indies had earlier swapped Brandon King for Roston Chase at the top of the order. Chase took the attack to India, scoring a 25-ball 40 in the new position, while captain Shai Hope needed 33 balls for his 32. The pair put on a modest 68 (53 balls) for the first wicket.
Chase and Shimron Hetmyer (27 off 12) raised the bar, scoring 34 runs in their 16 balls together before the latter controversially fell to Jasprit Bumrah in the 12th over to leave the West Indies 102 for 2. The on-field decision to fall behind was upheld on review, despite there appearing to be a small gap between bat and ball when a small spike appeared.
Hetmyer’s wicket would be the first of Bumrah’s double strike in the over, with Indian master Chase canceling out two balls later with a slower delivery. West Indies scored just 26 runs between the 12th and 15th overs and lost three wickets in the period being restricted to 125 for 4.
Rovman Powell then switched gears and hit two maximums and a four as West Indies took 24 runs off Arshdeep Singh’s 16th to put the innings back on track. Jason Holder then took 13 runs from Varun Chakravarthy in the next to help the Windies score 47 runs in the last four overs, including 26 from Bumrah’s last two, to finish at 195 for 4.
The result means the Caribbean side finishes in third place in Group 1 with 2 points, behind South Africa (6) and India (4), who advance to the last four.
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