Team India defeated England by seven runs in the second semi-final of the 2026 T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 5. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson won the Player of the Match award after thrashing the England bowlers in a high-scoring encounter.
His innings set a great platform for the Men in Blue to reach a mammoth score of 253/7 in 20 overs, the highest ever score in a T20 World Cup knockout match. India will take on New Zealand in the summit clash of the tournament on Sunday, March 8 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Sanju Samson breaks silence on missing out on centuries
During the post-match press conference, Samson was asked about his failure to score a century in the last two innings. Samson had scored an unbeaten 97 runs against West Indies before adding 89 runs against England.
Samson said he is grateful for the runs he has scored for the team rather than focusing on the milestone. He said he is completely focused on winning his first World Cup final on Sunday.
Samson said, “Actually I haven’t missed centuries. One was 97 and the other was 89. Wasn’t that even bigger? Very grateful for that! We are batting up to No. 8. It’s a tall batting order! I play as per the team’s requirements.”
He said, “Either you play well if it is your day or support others to play well. One more day left! Then I will feel lighter.”
Sanju Samson for a reason #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/tJMpejDAEe
– Deepu (@deepu_drops) 6 March 2026
Sanju Samson broke Rohit Sharma’s record of hitting a huge six
In the semi-final against England, Samson hit seven skyscraper sixes. The right-handed batsman hit 16 sixes in just four matches in the 2026 tournament.
Samson became the Indian player to hit the most sixes in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. The Kerala-born cricketer went past Rohit Sharma, who had earlier hit 15 sixes during India’s title-winning run in the 2024 edition.
Samson has scored 232 runs in four matches at an incredible average of 77.33 and a tremendous strike rate of 201.73, which includes two half-centuries. Notably, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan opened the batting for India at the start of the tournament.
India survived despite Jacob Bethel’s sensational century
The Harry Brook-led England team struggled till the last over of the run chase. Jacob Bethel almost gave his team victory by playing a sensational inning of 105 runs in just 48 balls. He recorded the highest individual score in a T20 World Cup knockout game, but it resulted in a losing cause.
Bethel made a dangerous partnership of 77 runs off 39 balls for the fifth wicket with Will Jacques, who scored 35 runs off 20 balls and kept England in the contest.
However, Jasprit Bumrah maintained his composure in pressure moments during the death overs. He was the pick of the bowlers with impressive figures of 1/33 from four overs. Bumrah bowled the decisive 17th over of the match and gave only six runs whereas according to the equation, 45 runs were required from 18 balls.
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