Samson special books India's semifinal spot

Sanju Samson's journey to this point has been anything but a straight line. He was one half of an explosive opening partnership that helped India build towards this title defence. Then he was displaced by a returning Shubman Gill, then reinstated, then usurped again by Ishan Kishan, his place in the XI even when he played feeling perpetually provisional. But when the campaign needed rescuing, when the stakes crystallised into a virtual quarterfinal against West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Samson walked out and refused to be moved. His unbeaten 97 off 50 balls was not merely the highest score by an Indian in a T20 World Cup chase, it powered India to their highest ever successful chase in T20 World Cup history, and in doing so, booked a semifinal date with England.

For Samson, this was familiar territory: not the ground, not the opposition, but the weight of expectation that had so often preceded his omissions as much as his selections. Chasing 195 at Eden Gardens, a venue that has swallowed bigger totals with ease, the target was theoretically manageable. Yet, there was nothing theoretical about the pressure. India had stumbled through this tournament, the pre-tournament favourites constantly looking for answers to questions they'd barely faced when they brushed aside teams in bilateral series.

A loss here meant an early exit, something that seemed unfathomable three weeks ago. And in keeping with the trend, India's chase began with the tentative air of an engine yet to warm up as just 12 came off the first two overs. Then Samson decided to take on a Powerplay specialist - left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein - he matches up poorly against, and promptly rewrote the script. A cut for four, a sweep dispatched for six over the boundary off an overcompensated full ball, and then a pull off the back foot set India on course. The final word, though, still belonged to Hosein, who prised out Abhishek Sharma, another meagre contribution in a tournament that has been unkind to him.

India's Powerplay was not without further turbulence. Ishan Kishan, attempting to pull a short ball from Jason Holder, found only the hands of Shimron Hetmyer at deep mid-wicket. Yet Samson had made the phase his own, stroking 24 off the 13 balls he faced to carry India to 53 for 2 after six overs.

What followed was even more commanding. In the four overs after the Powerplay, India added 45 with Samson playing the percentages to near perfection - punching Holder through mid-off, flat-batting Gudakesh Motie with contemptuous ease, then plundering a six and a four off Romario Shepherd before another back-foot boundary off Motie brought up his fifty off just 26 balls. It was an innings of controlled devastation, one he marked by re-marking his guard as if to suggest that his job wasn't done.

And so it proved. Suryakumar Yadav, at the other end, never quite found his footing in the 58-run stand. He was handed a lifeline when he offered Motie a caught and bowled chance but then sliced Shamar Joseph - introduced belatedly in the 11th over - straight to sweeper cover. The chase, which Samson had been managing with such composure, briefly stiffened as West Indies sent down two consecutive overs for just six runs. But Tilak Varma had other ideas. He took on Shamar Joseph with the confidence of a man unburdened by the situation, and helped plunder 32 off the next two overs, bringing the equation down to a very gettable 60 off the final 36 balls.

India lost Tilak and Hardik Pandya in the final stretch but Samson held firm to land the finishing blow with four balls to spare and then collapsed to his knee in quiet celebration.

If Samson's knock was all about sustained momentum through the course, a large portion of West Indies' innings after being asked to bat had the uncertain gait of a man walking a tightrope in no particular hurry, and much of that hesitancy bore the footprints of captain Shai Hope. On a track that gave bowlers little to dream about, Hope faced 25 deliveries in the Powerplay for exactly 25 runs. Roston Chase, pressed into service as makeshift opener, offered brighter intent early on, and was offered fortune in return as Abhishek Sharma put down a simple catch. Yet for all that, the first six overs yielded just 45 runs. No wickets had fallen.

That sluggishness carried a hidden cost. India had quietly loaded the back end of their attack, with Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy coiled in reserve, between them capable of bowling half the remaining 14 overs. Chakaravarthy had gone through this tournament carrying questions, but when he finally came on after the fielding restrictions lifted, he ended Hope's laboured vigil with a delivery that skidded low and rattled the stumps.

What followed was a glimpse of everything West Indies had been withholding. Shimron Hetmyer walked to the crease and, in the span of six balls, cleared the ropes twice, reclaiming the record for most sixes (19) in a single T20 World Cup edition, one Sahibzada Farhan had temporarily stolen away. A 17-run over off the same Chakaravarthy carried West Indies to 99 for 1 after 11 overs, and suddenly the innings had a pulse.

India's response was immediate and clinical. Bumrah returned, drawn by the precise matchup - he had dismissed Hetmyer five times in 21 balls in T20 cricket, and needed just two balls to make that count six. The southpaw swung hard and found only a feathered edge, confirmed by UltraEdge on review, and his 12-ball 27 was snuffed out. In the same over, Bumrah conjured another slower ball from nowhere, and this time Chase found no charity as Suryakumar Yadav clasped the catch cleanly.

For a spell, the innings drifted. Five overs, 43 runs, three wickets, Hardik Pandya adding Sherfane Rutherford's name to the ledger. Then came the 16th over. Arshdeep Singh dug one in short, conceded five wides, and Rovman Powell suddenly erupted for two sixes and a four in a 24-run over. Jason Holder joined the assault, plundering 14 off Chakaravarthy's next. Though Arshdeep steadied himself for a tight 19th, a 14-run final over against Bumrah told it's own story: West Indies had managed 70 off the final five overs and clawed their way to the brink of 200, daring India to chase the kind of score they hadn't in T20 World Cup history. As it turned out, West Indies, who had hit 163 in 14.3 overs were left to rue what their captain managed from the other 33 balls.

Brief scores: West Indies 195/4 in 20 overs (Roston Chase 40, Jason Holder 37*; Jasprit Bumrah 2-36) lost to India 199/5 in 19.2 overs (Sanju Samson 97*, Tilak Varma 27; Jason Holder 2-38) by five wickets