KOLKATA: Right-arm opener Sanju Samson’s unbeaten half-century helped India beat West Indies by five wickets in their chase of 196 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
The win marked India’s second place in the group stage and pushed them into the semi-finals with South Africa, who won all three matches each to top Group 1.
Chasing a tough target of 196 runs, Samson’s smart play saw the home side easily hit the winning runs with 5 wickets and 4 balls to spare.
The right-handed opener oversaw India’s successful streak with an unbeaten half-century, scoring 97 runs off 50 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes.
Backing him up was middle-order batsman Thilak Verma, who was the second-highest run-scorer with 27 off 15 balls, while skipper Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Hardik Pandya chipped in with 18 and 17 respectively.
Shamar Joseph and Jason Holder took 2 wickets each and Aqeel Hossain took one wicket for West Indies.
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s decision to bat first backfired as the Caribbean team amassed 195/4 in 20 overs.
The West Indies made a solid start to their innings, with captain Shai Hope and veteran Roston Chase putting on 68 runs before falling to Varun Chakraborty in the fifth ball of the ninth over.
Hope was out again after scoring 32 off 33 balls with the help of 3 fours and a six.
Along with Chase, he combined with the in-form Shimron Hetmyer for a 34-run stand for the second wicket, both falling to Jasprit Bumrah in the same over.
The right-handed opener scored 40 off 25 balls with 5 fours and a six for the West Indies, while Hetmyer scored 27 off 12 balls with 2 sixes and a four.
West Indies suffered another setback in the 15th over when Hardik Pandya edged Sherbane Rutherford (24) and slipped to 119/4 as a result.
Following a brief slump, Rowman Powell and experienced all-rounder Jason Holder took charge of the West Indies’ batting and put together an unbeaten 76 for the fifth wicket to ensure a strong finish.
Holder scored an unbeaten 37 off 21 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours, while Powell scored an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Bumrah was the standout bowler for India with 2 wickets for 36 runs in his four overs and Chakraborty and Pandya a wicket each.