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Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson became the sixth Indian to hit 100 T20I sixes during the fourth T20I against West Indies at Hyderabad's Uppal Stadium on Wednesday.
Following WI skipper Shai Hope's onslaught and fourth century of the tour, Samson started the 248-run chase in an ultra-aggressive fashion, scoring 56 in 22 balls, with six fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 243.48. Now, Samson has 102 T20I sixes, with Rohit Sharma (205), Suryakumar Yadav (179), Abhishek Sharma (141* at the time of filing this story), Hardik Pandya (126) and Virat Kohli (124) being the other members of India's 100 sixes T20I club. This year has been very productive for Samson, having made 687 runs in 24 matches and innings at an average of 29.86 and a strike rate of 178.44, with seven fifties and a best score of 97*. This also includes three successive fifties from a Super Eight T20 WC clash against the same opposition to the T20 WC final against New Zealand, which earned him the T20 WC 'Player of the Tournament' award and India their third T20 WC title. In 76 T20Is and 68 innings, Samson has made 1,719 runs at an average of 27.28, with a strike rate of 158.87, with three centuries and 10 fifties. At the end of the powerplay during the chase, India ended at 80/2, with skipper Shreyas Iyer and Abhishek Sharma at the crease. Coming to the match, India elected to field first, but WI made them pay. Knocks from Hope (102* in 50 balls, with four boundaries and nine sixes), his 52-run stand with Jewel Andrew (21 in 16 balls, with two fours and six) set the tone. Shimron Hetmyer (33 in 12 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes), Rovman Powell (24 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six) and Sherfane Rutherford (49* in 26 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) also chipped in valuable and impactful runs, taking WI to 247/3. Prince Yadav (1/36) was the pick of the bowlers for India, with Arshdeep Singh (1/52) and Mayank Yadav (0/52) being carted around the park. (ANI)
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