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“Sanju saved the match for India”- Twitterati reacted to Sanju Samson saving a boundary in last over to help India win vs West Indies

By
Karan Rawat
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215

The first match between India and West Indies went down to the wire with both teams evenly favored to win. But in the end, it was the Men in Blue that held their nerve to clinch a win with a nail-biting finish. The result was decided after the last ball of the match was bowled. But it was an incredible save by Sanju Samson down the leg off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj that was the turning point in the game.

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The hosts were close to chasing a big target of 309 runs, but they just fell short by three runs. It was a perfect chase for the home team until the very last over. Needing 15 runs off the last over, both teams were in the game. But Siraj held his nerve and pulled off a great win for India. But it was Samson who made the real difference and stood between the win and the West Indies.

The hosts needed 15 runs off the last over with Akeal Hosein (32) and Romario Shepherd (32) on the crease. Siraj bowled a wide ball and Hosein wasn’t able to connect with it and it ended as a dot. On the second ball, the batter tried to play a scoop shot. But he missed the ball and they took a single as the leg bye.

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It brought Shephard to the crease. On the third ball, Siraj bowled it on pads, which took the inside edge of the batter and it went for a lucky boundary. On the fourth ball, it was the same delivery that once again took the inside edge and both batters ran two runs. However, Siraj tried to follow the batter on the fifth delivery but it was down the leg side and the umpire gave it as wide.

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But it went so far down the leg side that Samson had to dive at full stretch to save the ball from going to the boundary. If Samson had missed the ball, then it would have gone for the boundary. That would have insured a win for the hosts. But it was the effort of the keeper that made the difference. Needing 7 runs off last two, Siraj just gave three runs and won the match for his team.

Earlier in the match, India’s top three batters scored fifty each. Shubman Gill scored his maiden fifty and made 64 runs, while Shreyas Iyer scored 54 runs. The Indian skipper, Shikhar Dhawan, was unlucky to miss his century by just three runs and got out on 97. For West Indies, Kyle Mayers (75) and Brandon King (54) were the stars with the bat. Fans were also thrilled to watch such a close game. More than that, fans were in awe after watching the match-turning save by Sanju Samson.

Twitterati reacted on the diving effort from Sanju Samson

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