Sanju Samson, a right-handed batter, scored an unbeaten 86 in the first one-day international of the three-match series against South Africa at Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium, one of the most significant innings of his brief international career. However, this was not enough to help Shikhar Dhawan’s Team India win the match. Samson kept the hosts in the game till the third ball of the final over, which required 30 runs, but as soon as he missed the fourth ball, the game was over for Team India. Samson eventually finished unbeaten on 86 thanks to 9 fours and 3 sixes. In the opening ODI, India eventually crumbled to a 9-run loss. Sanju discussed his strategy and thought process versus Tabraiz Shamsi in a post-game interview.
“It is always nice to spend some time in the middle and we always play to take our team over the line. I missed connecting two shots, next time I will work even harder. But I am satisfied with my contribution. Their bowlers were going about things nicely, Tabraiz Shamsi was a little expensive today so we felt we can target them,” said Samson during a post-match press conference. “We knew he would bowl the last over, I knew if I had to get 24 runs in the final over, I can hit four sixes. I was taking the game deep, the plan was this only and the batters responded nicely,” he added. Further talking about the game, Samson said: “It is always nice to spend some time in the middle and we always play to take our team over the line. I missed connecting two shots, next time I will work even harder. But I am satisfied with my contribution.”
“Their bowlers were going about things nicely, Tabraiz Shamsi was a little expensive today so we felt we can target them. We knew he would bowl the last over, I knew if I had to get 24 runs in the final over, I can hit four sixes. I was taking the game deep, the plan was this only and the batters responded nicely,” he added. After the game was cut short by weather, South Africa scored 249/4 in 40 overs. David Miller and Henrich Klaasen both finished with unbeaten scores of 75 and 74. “We have some space to improve but we also need to look at the batters we are bowling too. I think David Miller is the best finisher in the world at the moment, bowling against him on this ground was very challenging,” said Samson.
