India beat West Indies by five wickets to enter T20 World Cup semifinals

India beat West Indies by five wickets to enter T20 World Cup semifinalsSamson hits 97 not out, West Indian bowling flounders in Kolkata as India set up World Cup semifinal against England.Published On 1 Mar 2026Sanju Samson produced one of the calmest innings under the pressure of a run chase to send India into the semifinals of the T20 World Cup with a five-wicket win over the West Indies in Kolkata.Samson, who returned to the Indian playing XI in the previous match after being overlooked for the three games prior to it, remained not out on 97 as India pulled off an impressive win in front of a packed Eden Gardens crowd on Sunday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3India now sets the terms of global cricketlist 2 of 3ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2026 explained in maps and chartslist 3 of 3As T20 World Cup begins, ousted Bangladesh rues politicisation of cricketend of listThe wicketkeeper-batter was the only Indian player to score more than 30 runs as the defending champions faced the Maroons in a winner-takes-all Super Eights game.In the process, he recorded the highest score by an Indian in a T20 World Cup run chase, going past Virat Kohli’s 82 against Australia in 2016 and Pakistan in 2022.The co-hosts will now face England in the second semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday, while New Zealand and South Africa will meet in the first last-four match on Wednesday in Kolkata.Samson’s cool demeanour in the face of a high target and an expectant home crowd laid the foundation of India’s chase after they lost star batter Abhishek Sharma in the third over.The 31-year-old from southern India then took control of the innings, hitting regular boundaries in his 50-ball knock . Samson’s 97 not out came off 12 fours and four sixes.While he enjoyed brief support from India’s top and middle order batters, none crossed the 20-run mark until Tilak Varma scored 27 off 15 balls in a 42-run partnership with Samson.India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav (18) and Hardik Pandya (17) were the other contributors to the total, which was sealed with two boundaries off Samson’s bat in the last over.