After Sanju Samson's game-winning performance helped India defeat West Indies by five wickets in a Super 8s elimination match of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, securing their spot in the semifinals, West Indies skipper Shai Hope praised Samson. In a do-or-die match in the current World Cup, Sanju Samson's unbeaten 97 off 50 balls helped India chase down a formidable 196-run mark and lead Suryakumar Yadav's team to a five-wicket victory.

In order to join South Africa, New Zealand, and England in the T20 World Cup semifinals, India and the West Indies, who were tied on points in the Super 8s points table, needed to win the Kolkata match. India's victory advanced them to the semi-finals, where they will face England on March 5.
West Indies captain Shai Hope hailed Sanju Samson as a skilled and seasoned player during the press conference held after the game.
He admitted that Samson's knock was exceptional and deserved full credit for leading India to win, even though the Eden Gardens ground made scoring easier.Because it's a nice surface, he's a good player, and he performed extremely well. It's typically simpler to score easily when chasing on a pitch like this at the Eden Gardens, especially at night. Not to diminish him, though; as I mentioned, he is a great player who has been playing for many years. It's just one of those situations where the batter simply outperforms our bowlers. According to the ICC website, Hope stated, "It's part of the game as well, you must give credit for the innings that he played today."
Although he hoped it hadn't happened against the West Indies, Hope noted Sanju Samson batted wisely and had the ideal speed throughout his innings."He timed it pretty well and shot the ball exceptionally well from the start of the innings until the end. He approached his strokes with a great deal of intelligence and calculation. But given his performance today, you have to give him an A+. However, we wish he hadn't played that inning today," Hope continued.India chose to field first after winning the toss prior to the game. Despite a brilliant cameo by Shimron Hetmyer (27 in 12 balls, with a four and two sixes), WI lost to 119/4 in 14.1 overs after an opening partnership of 68 runs for the first wicket from Roston Chase (40 in 25 balls, with five fours and a six) and captain Shai Hope (32 in 33 balls, with three fours and a six).
WI reached 195/4 in 20 overs thanks to a scorching 76-run partnership between Jason Holder (37* in 22 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and Powell (34* in 19 balls, with three fours and two sixes).India's top bowler was Jasprit Bumrah (2/36 in four overs), while Varun Chakaravarthy and Hardik Pandya each had a 1/40 spell in four overs.
India was reduced to 41/2 in the powerplay during the run chase. The chase was restarted by a 58-run partnership between Samson and Suryakumar Yadav (18). After that, Sanju formed partnerships with Shivam Dube (8*), Hardik Pandya (17), and Tilak Varma (27 in 15 balls, with four boundaries and a six), helping India win by five wickets.