Sanju Samson, the Indian wicket-keeper opening batter, was the biggest reason for the blue brigade to knock out West Indies and reach the semifinal of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where they faced England, who have been excellent in the Super 8 clashes of the campaign. And Samson started from where he left.

Sanju Samson started the very first over of the evening with a boundary on the third ball against Jofra Archer before smashing the right-arm pacer’s short ball behind the stumps for a massive six. He was given a life when the opposition captain, Harry Brook, dropped a simple catch at the mid-off region before Samson clubbed Archer for another six.

See Also: Watch: Will Jacks dismisses Abhishek Sharma for 9 in IND vs ENG T20 World Cup 2026 Semi-final 2

England introduced the left-arm spinner, Liam Dawson, in the eighth over of the innings as Samson pressed forward and lofted the full ball over the wide long-off region for a massive six to complete his second successive fifty in just 26 balls. In the very next over, he drilled Sam Currean for another six with the pull short.

Sanju Samson celebrates successive T20 WC 2026 fifty vs England

India lost their left-handed opening batter, Abhishek Sharma, earlier when his mistimed aerial flick shot went massively in the air but didn’t get the distance as Phil Salt at the deep region grabbed a comfortable catch to send back the batter, who continued his nightmarish time.

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Another must-win game, another Sanju Samson masterclass! 🔥

His maiden T20I fifty against England and what an occasion to bring it up! 👏

ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup | Semi-final 2 | #INDvENG | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/L2OuYBUDbL pic.twitter.com/1csgOPterB

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 5, 2026

Meanwhile, the new batter, Ishan Kishan, supported Samson well from the other end for his fine knock of 39 runs in 18 balls with the help of four boundaries and a couple of sixes. That brought the end of the 97-run second wicket stand between him and Samson in just 45 balls as India raced away to 117/1 in 9.3 overs.

England lacked plans to get the wicket of Samson, but the wicket of Kishan would bring new freshness for them as they would now be able to use Dawson’s left-arm spin against the right-handed batters in the middle overs.

Brief Scores: IND 128/2 (Sanju Samson 75*, Adil Rashid 1/13) vs England