Sanju Samson collected a second straight Player-of-the-Match gong on Thursday night yet admitted he owed the prize to Jasprit Bumrah. India edged England by seven runs in a semi-final that produced 499 runs at the Wankhede, and Samson was quick to deflect the limelight.
“All credit goes to Jasprit Bumrah,” he said at the presentation. “I think the world-class bowler, once-in-a-generation bowler… I think that’s what he delivered today. This [award] should go to him actually. So, if he didn’t bowl that way in the death overs, I would not be standing here. So all credit goes to the bowlers, how they backed themselves in the tough conditions.”
Samson’s 89 from 42 balls set the tone, 41 of those runs coming inside the powerplay. England, though, kept pace thanks to Jacob Bethell’s blistering hundred, and the match remained alive right up to Bumrah’s return.
The seamer dismissed Harry Brook with his first delivery – a slower ball that clipped off stump – and was held back for overs 16 and 18, the crunch period in most T20 chases. Fourteen runs came from those dozen balls, yorkers mingling with low full-tosses that refused to lift into the slot. Bethell, who had punished everyone else, managed only 17 from the 13 deliveries he faced from Bumrah.
India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav had planned it that way. “Absolutely. I mean, you know how capable he is, and what he’s done over the years for India,” he said. “And he did the same thing today. Embraced it, raised his hand again, showed character, and pulled the game away from them.”
Suryakumar was equally pleased with Samson, who began the event as a back-up opener but has since reeled off 97 not out and 89 in successive knock-out matches. “He knew what he wanted to do as soon as he went into bat,” the captain noted. “Even when the wickets fell, he knew the wicket was good, so he kept pressing the pedal. The way he batted, I think the team required that from him. It was all due from last year, all the hard work he was doing and it was a special knock today.”
England will probably rue the lack of a cutting-edge spell of their own. Reece Topley’s early swing disappeared once the ball went soft, and Sam Curran’s cutters sat up on a surface that offered very little grip. Jos Buttler tried every option before turning back to Chris Jordan for the 19th over, but by then Bumrah had already pinched the momentum.
India now head to Ahmedabad for Sunday’s final against New Zealand, hoping to retain the trophy they won in the Caribbean two years ago. Suryakumar allowed himself a moment to consider the occasion. “I mean, it’s an unbelievable feeling, obviously, playing in India, leading such a wonderful side and World Cup happening in India,” he said. “Going to Ahmedabad, playing that final, I think it’s a special feeling for all the boys.”
