Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
Hyderabad, India, AFP: Opener Sanju Samson’s blistering century helped world champions India hammer Bangladesh in the final T20 on Saturday to sweep the series 3-0 after they posted the format’s highest total by a Test-playing nation of 297-6.
The hosts went past Afghanistan’s 278-3 against Ireland in 2019. The Indian total is the second highest in all T20 internationals after Nepal’s 314-3 against Mongolia at last year’s Asian Games in China.
Samson hit 111 of 47 balls — his first T20 international ton — studded with 11 fours and eight sixes after India elected to bat first in Hyderabad. In reply, Bangladesh managed 164-7 to go down by 133 runs in what was former skipper Mahmudullah Riyad’s last T20 for the nation.
Mahmudullah made eight before he fell to speedster Mayank Yadav and walked off with a smile and pat on the back by India skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s Bangladesh, who came on the India tour at the back of a two-Test sweep in Pakistan, were outplayed by the hosts as they lost the earlier Test series 2-0. Samson, a wicketkeeper-batsman, stood out as he hammered leg-spinner Rishad Hossain for five straight sixes in an over en route to his ton in 40 balls. He put on 173 runs for the second wicket with Suryakumar, who hit 75 off 35 balls but his knock was overshadowed by his partner’s blitz and the mammoth total.
Samson finally fell to Mustafizur Rahman and walked back to a standing ovation by the weekend crowd. Suryakumar fell in the next over by Mahmudullah, who announced his retirement from the format ahead of the second match.
But there was more punishment in store for Bangladesh as new batters Hardik Pandya, who struck 47 off 18 balls and Riyan Parag, who made a 13-ball 34, kept up the charge with regular boundaries. India surpassed their previous best total of 260-5 against Sri Lanka in 2017 as they scored at nearly 15 runs an over.
Bangladesh were never in the chase but wicketkeeper-batsman Litton Das, who hit 42, and Towhid Hridoy, unbeaten on 63, attempted to put up a fight. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets including Litton and Najmul in his four overs. India’s Test team, led by Rohit Sharma, will now host New Zealand in a three-match series starting next week with the opener in Bengaluru.
| SCORECARD | |
| India
Sanju Samson c Hasan b Rahman 111 Abhishek Sharma c Hasan b Sakib 04 Suryakumar Yadav c Hossain b Mahmadullah 75 Riyan Parag c Das b Ahmed 47 Rinku Singh not out 08 Nitish Kumar Reddy c Hasan b Sakib 00 Washington Sundar not out 01 Extras (b5, lb6, nb3m w3) 17 Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 297 Did not bat: Varun Chakravarthy, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Sharma, 2.1ov), 2-196 (Samson, 13.4ov), 3-206 (Yadav, 14.3ov), 4-276 (Parag, 18.4ov), 5-289 (Pandya, 19.3ov), 6-289 (Reddy, 19.4ov) Bowling: Mehedi Hasan 4-0-45-0, Taskin Ahmed 4-0-51-1, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 4-0-66-3, Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-52-1, Rishad Hossain 2-0-46-0, Mahmadullah 2-0-26-1 Bangladesh Parvez Hoassain c Parag b MP Yadav 00 Tanzid Hasan c Varun b Sundar 15 Najmul Hossain c Samson b Bishnoi 14 Litton Das c Varma b Bishnoi 42 Towhid Hridoy not out 63 Mahmadullah c Parag b MP Yadav 08 Mehedi Hasan c Parag b Reddy 03 Rishad Hossain c Sharma b Bishnoi 00 Tanzim Hasan Sakib not out 08 Extras (lb4, nb1, w6) 11 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 164 Did not bat: Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Parvez, 0.1ov), 2-35 (Tanzid, 3.1ov), 3-59 (N. Hossain, 5.2ov), 4-112 (Das, 11.4ov), 5-130 (Mahmudullah, 14.2ov), 6-138 (Hasan, 16.3ov), 7-139 (R. Hossain, 17.2ov) Bowling: Mayank Yadav 4-0-32-2, Hardik Pandya 3-0-32-0, Washington Sundar 1-0-4-1, Nitish Kumar Reddy 3-0-31-1, Ravi Bishnoi 4-1-30-3, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-23-0, Abhishek Sharma 1-0-8-0 |