KOLKATA, India, March 1 (Reuters) - India reached the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup with a five-wicket win over West Indies in Sunday's decisive Super Eights match, as Sanju Samson's unbeaten knock of 97 helped them chase down a target of 196 with four balls to spare.
Defending champions India, who will play in the semis for the third straight time, will face England in Mumbai on Thursday, a day after South Africa take on New Zealand in the first semi-final.
"It means the whole world to me. Right from the day I started playing, started dreaming to play for the country, I think this is the day I was waiting for," said player-of-the-match Samson, whose 50-ball knock included four sixes and 12 boundaries.
Put in to bat first, the West Indies openers cautiously scored 45 runs in the powerplay, after Abhishek Sharma dropped Roston Chase at cover. Shai Hope (32) failed to judge Varun Chakaravarthy's googly and got bowled in the ninth over.
Shimron Hetmyer, in at three, scored a quick 27 but Jasprit Bumrah (2-36) got him caught behind, before dismissing Chase (40) two balls later, with Suryakumar Yadav diving at a difficult angle to take an airborne catch.
When Sherfane Rutherford fell in the 15th over, West Indies were at 119-4, but Rovman Powell hit Arshdeep Singh for two sixes and a four to score 24 runs in the next over, regaining the momentum.
Powell (34) and Jason Holder (37) put up a rapid 76-run partnership for the fifth wicket to reach 195-4, far above the highest successful run chase in a T20 international at Eden Gardens, which India pulled off in 2022 when West Indies set a target of 158.
SAMSON STEERS SHAKY INDIA TO VICTORY
In reply, India lost opener Sharma early to Akeal Hosein, the spinner who had replaced West Indies opener Brandon King. Ishan Kishan fell to Holder nine balls later, leaving them at 41-2.
With the required run rate at double digits, Samson kept the runs flowing, hitting three sixes and four boundaries to complete his half-century in 28 balls.
India shrugged off the loss of captain Suryakumar (18), as Tilak Varma hit Shamar Joseph for three successive fours and belted Chase down long on to get them within 60 runs of victory with six overs left.
Varma (27) and Hardik Pandya (17) fell as the game neared a nervy finish, before Shivam Dube hit Joseph for two quick boundaries to leave India just seven runs to get in the last over to pull off the highest successful run chase in the tournament.
Samson hit Romario Shepherd for six over square leg and hit a four down mid-on to bring up the winning runs, getting the highest individual score by an Indian in a T20 World Cup chase, surpassing Virat Kohli's knocks of 82 against Australia and Pakistan.
"All his hard work, what he's been doing behind the doors when he hasn't been playing, he's got the fruits for it at the perfect stage," said Suryakumar about Samson.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
