Sanju Samson's unbeaten knock of 97 propelled India into the T20 World Cup semi-finals during their five-wicket triumph over West Indies in their final match of the Super 8s. 

India knew that victory was a must to keep their title defence alive, and they were able to deliver at Eden Gardens to finish second behind South Africa in Group 1 on Sunday. 

West Indies were put into bat and made a fast start through Roston Chase and Shai Hope, though the latter was dismissed for 32 runs by Varun Chakaravarthy in the ninth over.

Shimron Hetmyer (27) and Chase (40) then fell within three balls before Hardik Pandya got in on the act to remove Sherfane Rutherford for 14 as India looked to take control. 

However, West Indies were able to recover with Rovman Powell (34 not out) and Jason Holder (37no) as they reached 195-4 to give India a reasonable target to chase. 

But they stumbled at the start of the chase when Abhishek Sharma (10) was caught by Hetmyer, with Ishan Kishan (10) suffering the same fate two overs later. 

With wickets tumbling around him, Samson remained a constant at the crease and powered India over the line, fittingly sealing their passage with back-to-back boundaries. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀 #TeamIndia are semi-finals bound in the #T20WorldCup

Updates https://t.co/ur4pr8Bi3K#MenInBlue | #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/45sjJydel9

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 1, 2026

Data Debrief: Samson shines in run-filled contest

It was a surprise to see Suryakumar Yadav choose to bowl first in this match, especially given India had lost each of their last two men's T20Is when batting second on the day, but with Samson in their ranks, they need not have worried. 

Indeed, his unbeaten 97 was his third-highest score in the shortest format, after his 111 against Bangladesh and 109 not out against South Africa, while Samson also produced his seventh knock of 50+ in T20Is. 

And the match was decided by both teams' batting quality, with the 394 runs scored between West Indies and India the most between the two nations at a T20 World Cup, surpassing the 388 they managed in March 2016 at Wankhede.