Samson guides India to T20 World Cup semis in nervy win over West Indies

KOLKATA, India, March 1 : India reached the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup with a five-wicket win over West Indies in Sunday's decisive Super Eights match, as Sanju Samson's unbeaten knock of 97 helped them chase down a target of 196 with four balls to spare.

Defending champions India, who will play in the semis for the third straight time, will face England in Mumbai on Thursday, a day after South Africa take on New Zealand in the first semi-final.

"It means the whole world to me. Right from the day I started playing, started dreaming to play for the country, I think this is the day I was waiting for," said player-of-the-match Samson, whose 50-ball knock included four sixes and 12 boundaries.

Put in to bat first, the West Indies openers cautiously scored 45 runs in the powerplay, after Abhishek Sharma dropped Roston Chase at cover. Shai Hope (32) failed to judge Varun Chakaravarthy's googly and got bowled in the ninth over.

Shimron Hetmyer, in at three, scored a quick 27 but Jasprit Bumrah (2-36) got him caught behind, before dismissing Chase (40) two balls later, with Suryakumar Yadav diving at a difficult angle to take an airborne catch.

When Sherfane Rutherford fell in the 15th over, West Indies were at 119-4, but Rovman Powell hit Arshdeep Singh for two sixes and a four to score 24 runs in the next over, regaining the momentum.

Powell (34) and Jason Holder (37) put up a rapid 76-run partnership for the fifth wicket to reach 195-4, far above the highest successful run chase in a T20 international at Eden Gardens, which India pulled off in 2022 when West Indies set a target of 158.

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In reply, India lost opener Sharma early to Akeal Hosein, the spinner who had replaced West Indies