T20 World Cup: We wanted to finish off the game a bit earlier, says Samson

With two southpaws — Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran — in full flow, India opted against giving left-arm spinner Axar Patel his fourth over. Instead, captain Suryakumar Yadav held back the final over of Axar until the very end — a move that proved decisive as India clinched a tense seven-run win over England to enter the ICC T20 World Cup final here on Thursday.

England needed 61 from the last four overs, leaving the contest finely poised. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh each had an over remaining, with the question being not just who would bowl but when. The alternative option was to use medium-pacer Shivam Dube.

“The game was going neck-to-neck and they were trying to actually get 13-15 runs in an over. We knew that if we take the game till the end, they might actually get heavy on us,” Sanju Samson, who was named Player-of-the-Match for the second successive game, said at the post-match media briefing.

“We just wanted to finish off the game a bit earlier. That’s where we tried to bowl Bumrah, Arshdeep and Hardik in those three overs.”

Bethell attacked Arshdeep in the 17th over, striking the last two deliveries for a six and four to bring the equation down to 45 off 18 balls. Bumrah followed with a typically tight over, conceding just six runs without allowing a boundary.

With 39 needed off the final two overs, Hardik delivered a vital blow. Not only did he break the threatening partnership but also conceded just nine runs in the penultimate over.

Bethell, who had reached three figures, was run out off the first ball of the final over bowled by Dube. Though Dube conceded 22 runs, the cushion of 29 runs proved just enough as India sealed a place in the final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Costly miss

England captain Harry Brook admitted that his dropped catch of Samson when the batter was on 15 proved costly.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t catch it and he played a very good innings as well. Obviously it’s in the back of your mind. I kept on looking at the scoreboard and he was piling the runs on. I was like, I am going to have to get 80-90 tonight. It’s not ideal but it happened’’.