Sanju Samson roared back to form with a blistering 82 before Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma ‘s rapid knocks powered India to 249/5 in the second T20I against the West Indies on Friday. After four straight low scores, Samson smashed a 21-ball fifty, his ninth in T20Is, to set the tone in an entertaining 97-run partnership off 43 balls with Ishan Kishan . Samson’s 21-ball half-century is the joint-fastest by an Indian against the West Indies in T20Is. He equalled Virat Kohli , who smashed a 21-ball fifty against the West Indies in Mumbai on December 11, 2019.
It eventually propelled the hosts to their highest-ever T20I total against the West Indies.
India lost three wickets for 23 runs in the middle overs, but skipper Shreyas Iyer, fresh from his maiden T20I century in Lucknow, carried his form into this match. Tilak also crossed 5,000 T20 runs and kept the pressure on the West Indies with crisp, well-placed boundaries during their 83-run partnership, which came off just 32 balls, as India surpassed their previous highest score of 244/4 against the Windies, set in 2016. India followed the same template, with Abhishek Sharma getting into his groove early and charging at almost everything as the hosts scored at more than 10 runs an over after being asked to bat.
The duo powered India to 139/1 in 11 overs at a run rate of more than 12, with home player Kishan contributing a 22-ball 43, including six fours and two sixes.
