Really enjoying my time in the middle, says Sanju Samson

Durban: Sanju Samson’s explosive 107 off 50 balls powered India to a 61-run victory over South Africa in the first T20I in Durban. India posted 202/8, with Samson becoming the first Indian to hit consecutive T20I centuries. Varun Chakaravarthy (3/25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) dismantled South Africa’s chase, bundling them out for 141.

Sanju Samson, who was Player of the Match, said, “Really enjoying my time in the middle. Have been playing well so wanted to utilize my form. (On what is going right) It is always the intent, we have been talking about keeping the team ahead of yourself. Once you play those first couple of balls, you are looking to find those boundary shots, which makes things easy. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Happy it did (pay off) today. Knowing the home advantage they (South Africa) have, they are a really gun side, so important for us to start off with a win.”

Meanwhile, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said, “We are following the same things, we have not changed our brand of cricket. Very happy with the innings of Samson. The amount of hard work that he has put in over the last few years, doing those boring things again and again, he is reaping the fruits (now). He is putting the team first, even when he was in the 90s, he was looking to hit fours and sixes. That is what separates him.” 

“I wanted to pick crucial wickets at the time, and it was important to get  Klaasen and Miller out. With the ground and the wind, they are dangerous and the way Bishnoi and Chakravarthy delivered, it was great. I am really enjoying the captaincy. The boys are making things easier for me . The way they have been showing that fearless attitude, enjoying each other's company, on and off the field, it makes my job very easy. The brand of cricket we are playing, we just want to be fearless. Even if we lose a few wickets, we want to bat with one motto. It is a T20 game, we know have 20 overs but if we can get 200 in 17 overs, then why not,” said Surya.

Aiden Markram, South Africa captain said, “Both the new balls did a little bit. Some extra bounce and a bit of nip. It was consistent throughout both innings. Once the new ball wore off, it was a really good wicket. We wanted to get off to a better start (with the bat) and that is where we lost the game. Sanju played incredibly well, put our bowlers under pressure. So, probably plans to negate that. When a guy is striking like that, it is pretty hard to stop him and you have to take your hat off."

Speaking about their death-bowling, Markram said, "We had a couple of good meetings with the guys who will be bowling at the death. Nice to get it right. Incredibly proud of what they did at the death and hopefully we can take that forward, it was a really big positive (for us). Each guy, from an individual point of view, will understand how to do better. We have been hitting a lot of balls in the nets and more about the approach  when we play next."