Sanju Samson became the first Indian batter, and fourth overall, to score consecutive hundreds in T20I cricket during India’s 61-run win against South Africa in the first match at Kingsmead, Durban on Friday.
Samson, who scored a 40-ball 100 against Bangladesh in his previous match last month, top-scored with 107 off just 50 balls to power the Indian cricket team to 202/8 in 20 overs. He smashed 10 sixes, the joint-most by an Indian batter in a T20I alongside Rohit Sharma, and seven fours during his stay at the crease.
Sixes in Durban hit different 🔥pic.twitter.com/yLigqHWuuI
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) November 8, 2024
In reply, the Proteas were bowled out for 141 with 13 balls to spare as India went 1-0 ahead in the four-match series. The spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi picked up 3/25 and 3/28, respectively with Avesh Khan getting two wickets for the visitors.
“I enjoyed my time out there in the middle. I made maximum utilisation of my current form, you can say,” Samson said after collecting the Player of the Match award during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“The intent, we have been talking about being aggressive and keeping the team ahead of yourselves. Once you play three to four balls, you are looking for the boundary. I’m not thinking much, sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t. I am happy it worked out well today.”
Opening the batting, Samson continued from where he left off against Bangladesh hitting South African captain Aiden Markram over mid-off in the second over for his first boundary of the match.
Samson, who was retained by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, welcomed Keshav Maharaj into the attack with a four and a six off the first two balls from the left-arm spinner.
The wicketkeeper-batter continued in the same vein despite losing his opening partner in the fourth over. Samson smashed two sixes and a four in the next two overs from pacers Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee as India raced to 56/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Samson brought up his fifty off just 27 balls in style, pulling leg spinner Nqabayomzi Peter for back-to-back sixes in the eighth over. Samson and Suryakumar Yadav added 66 runs from 37 balls for the second wicket.
Another maximum from Samson off Maharaj saw India go past the 100-run mark in the 11th over. It was an exquisite display of shot-making from Samson with the sixes off Peter and Andile Simelane over the umpire’s head and extra cover, respectively, standing out.
Samson brought up his second T20I hundred in 47 balls with the second fifty coming in just 20 balls. He was dismissed in the following over with India sitting pretty at 175/4 in 15.4 overs.
“The amount of hard work he has done in the last 10 years, doing the boring work, he is eating the fruits of that,” Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav acknowledged. “He was in the 90s, but still, he was looking for a boundary, playing for the team and showing the man’s character, and that’s what we look for.”
