Sanju Samson made history by scoring his maiden T20I century in just 40 balls, breaking Suryakumar Yadav’s record and leading India to a remarkable total of 297/6 against Bangladesh, their highest in T20Is and the second-highest team total in T20I history.
New Delhi: Sanju Samson was unstoppable at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, hitting his maiden T20I century in mere 40 balls, on October 12, as he outplayed the Bangladeshi bowlers in the third and final match of the series.
The century was a personal milestone for Samson, and at the same time, he enabled himself to break a record held by T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. He overtook Yadav’s 45-ball hundred against England. He is now placed second with former captain Rohit Sharma above him, who created the record of the fastest T20I hundred for an Indian with his 35-ball hundred against Sri Lanka in 2017.
Having batted after putting in a modest performance in the first T20I, where he could score only 29 runs, and just 10 in the second T20I, Samson was desperate to make an impact. Right from the onset of the match, he attacked the bowling attack with aggression, and by visible intent, he proved himself as the captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
Samson’s innings featured an impressive 11 boundaries and 8 towering sixes. India got off to a fantastic start, surpassing the 150-run mark within the first 10 overs of the innings.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav played really well in conjunction with Samson, striking 75 runs from only 35 balls. They put up an excellent partnership of 173 runs and blew away the Bangladeshi bowling.
The struggling Abhishek Sharma was sent back early in the innings with a mere 4 runs off pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib. From there on, however, it was the two men who actually managed to cause some major damage: 34 off 13 for Riyan Parag and 47 off 18 for Suryakumar Yadav.
India closed their innings at 297/6, the first time they had broken 300 in T20I cricket. That is, of course their highest total in the format and the second-highest team total in T20I history, behind only Nepal’s massive 314 against Mongolia. They will never know now, with just three runs shy of history.
