Sanju Samson seems to be having a roller-coaster of a T20I series in South Africa. After starting the series with a match-winning 107 in Durban, Samson was dismissed for a duck in three deliveries in Gqberha in the second match. On Wednesday, Samson bagged another duck as he spent only two deliveries in the middle in the third T20I in Centurion.
Sanju Samson took the strike after South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl in the bounce-friendly venue in the Highveld. It looked like Samson expected the good-length delivery from left-arm pacer Marco Jansen to bounce more than it actually did. The wicketkeeper-batter was beaten by the low bounce as the ball clattered into the stumps.
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Samson looked dejected as he was undone by the uncertainty of the conditions at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. It was Marco Jansen, who got the wicket of Samson in the second T20I too as the left-arm pacer seems to be finding success against the in-form Indian opener.
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Samson is the only second Indian batter after Rohit Sharma to get dismissed for 0 twice in more than one bilateral series. Samson bagged two ducks against Sri Lanka earlier this year. Rohit had bagged twin ducks in a series against South Africa in 2022-23 and Afghanistan in 2024.
Notably, Samson became the first Indian batter to hit hundreds in back-to-back T20is when he followed up a hundred in Hyderabad against Bangladesh in October with another in the T20I series opener in Durban. Samson was in high spirits as he spoke about the backing from captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir for his renewed success in the shortest format of the game.
Despite the two ducks, Samson will continue to get the backing of the team management.
On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma, Samson’s opening partner, finally managed to get to a double-digit score in the T20I series. He took down fast bowler Gerald Coetzee with two boundaries and a six in the second over of the game.
Abhishek was joined by Tilak Varma, who was promoted to bat at No. 3 ahead of captain Suryakumar Yadav. Tilak also was aggressive from the word go as he launched into Marco Jansen in the first over. Tilak was not affected by Samson’s dismissal as walked down the pitch and hit the fast bowler for a six over the backward point region.
