It was a perfect ‘Friday night’ for the Indian cricket fans, as the ‘Men in Blue’ secured a thrilling victory in Trinidad. The Shikhar Dhawan-led men defeated the hosts by 3 runs, on Friday (July 22). It was Mohammed Siraj, who defended 15 runs off the last over of the game. Although, the scenes would have been different if Sanju Samson hadn’t pulled off a dive to save a boundary, in the same over.
West Indies (WI) needed 15 runs to conquer the first Indian challenge of the three-match series. Dhawan had handed the ball to Siraj, while for WI, good-going Romario Shepherd and Akeal Hosein were the batters on the field. Siraj conceded a couple of runs in as many deliveries of the over. Furthermore, Shepherd hit the right-arm pacer for a four through the fine leg and went on to run two on the next ball.
WI needed 8 runs in the remaining two balls; it was the second-last delivery of the over and Siraj bowled a full-length wide delivery. Shepherd made room but could barely hit the ball and as it was racing towards the boundary line, Samson, actually the Flying Samson dived to his left and managed to stop the ball, from going for a four. Siraj then, with the help of stunning yorkers, conceded 3 more runs in the remaining couple of deliveries, apart from this wide, and aided India to attain a remarkable win.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the remarkable save from Samson:
The save from Sanju Samson made a huge impact on the victory of the Indian team, it was a certain 4 extra runs for West Indies & they could have won the game. pic.twitter.com/wxcDLVqY29
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 22, 2022
Sanju Samson’s stop was the difference in the end. 100% boundary. And that would’ve been Game Windies.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 22, 2022
The match winning save from Sanju Samson last night – had it been a four, West Indies could've been 1-0 in the series. pic.twitter.com/dwj8qmavDZ
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 23, 2022
Samson's saved the game from getting over there. Brilliant effort to save that from going for four
— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) July 22, 2022
Air Samson to the rescue. 👏🇮🇳💗 https://t.co/NjN5mpPzW6 pic.twitter.com/kWopRZqs4c
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) July 23, 2022
Sanju Samson's save of the day with 8 needed off 2 probably won't be remembered tomorrow. #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/WOb6GO233g
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) July 22, 2022
This man behind the stumps with Gloves on 🧤 is the Reason That the Majority of the Indians would be Sleeping peacefully tonight 🔥😍 And The other ( west )-Indians Must be feeling Lil sad
Nevertheless well Played both the Team ❤️❤️ #IndvsWI #SanjuSamson #Sanju #DDSports pic.twitter.com/n1hv4WK2Rm— SUMEET KUMAR J G (@sumeetkumar2524) July 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/CricCrazyRoshmi/status/1550611648641019904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1550611648641019904%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crictracker.com%2Fflying-samson-twitter-praises-sanju-samson-for-saving-crucial-boundary-in-final-over%2F
India defeat West Indies in a thriller
Discussing the other aspects of the game, Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies skipper won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Indian openers Dhawan and Shubman Gill stood firm for a 119-run stand, together. Gill scored 64 runs in 53 deliveries, with 6 fours and a couple of sixes.
Dhawan, on the other hand, missed a hundred by three runs, as the 36-year-old scored 97 runs in 99 deliveries, with 10 boundaries and 3 sixes, in his account. Shreyas Iyer came in to bat at number three and scored a half-century then. India posted a more than a decent total of 308 runs for 7 wickets. Meanwhile, Alzarri Joseph and the left-arm spinner Gundakesh Motie captured 2 wickets each for WI.
In reply, WI batters too kept building partnerships. Kyle Mayers, one of the openers scored 75 runs in 68 runs, with 10 fours and a six. Moreover, Brandon King too scored a half-century. In the end, a quick-firing, unbeaten partnership of 53 runs between Shepherd and Hosein ended up in the losing cause. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Yuzvendra Chahal picked 2 wickets each for India.
The two sides will now battle in the second game at the same venue, on Sunday (July 24). India will look to seal another series, while the young WI lineup will try not to lose another contest at home.
Written By Prachi Pisal
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