Sanju Samson recently etched his name into the history books when he became the first-ever Indian to hit centuries in back-to-back T20I innings. Having given the backing to open the innings from the T20I series against Bangladesh, Samson slammed centuries in his last two T20I games.
Meanwhile, the wicketkeeper batter has now shattered an unwanted record for India after bagging a duck in the second T20I against South Africa. This was Samson’s fourth T20I duck in 2024, which is the most by an Indian batter in a calendar year in the format.
The Rajasthan Royals skipper was cleaned up for a three-ball duck in the second game as he played the wrong line to a good-length ball from Marco Jansen in the first over. Samson made room and exposed all of his three stumps. The ball was pitched a little further from a good length and hit the top of the leg stump.
India were asked to bat first by South Africa after Aiden Markram called right at the toss. The visitors did not make any changes to the Playing XI that won the first T20I in Durban. South Africa made one change, bringing in Reeza Hendricks for Patrick Kruger.
“We are going to bowl first again. With rain around, that’s the obvious part. Hope the bowlers use the moisture. Kruger is out, Hendricks is in. We are not concerned about the outcome or result,” Markram said at the toss.
“We wanted to bat first and play same brand of cricket, happy with the things in the last match. You always learn something or the other in every game. We want to continue the good habits. No changes, playing with the same XI,” Suryakumar Yadav said at the toss.
Playing XIs:
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan
South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter
