Team India did not have the desired start to the three-match ODI series against South Africa as the Shikhar Dhawan-led team suffered defeat in the 1st ODI by nine runs. While chasing 250, India finished with 240/8 in their 40 overs but that too would not have been possible if it was not for Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer. India started their chase horribly as they lost both their openers (Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan) within the first six overs.
Ruturaj Gaekwad and Ishan Kishan then consumed a lot of deliveries while trying to implement the rescue act. The two batters then perished to the spin duo of Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj. However, Shreyas Iyer got India’s innings back on track as he scored a brisk 50 off 37 balls. He found a perfect partner in Samson who played second fiddle but took the charge once Iyer was dismissed.
However, things could not finish the way India wanted as Shardul Thakur departed after scoring 33 runs from 31 balls and Samson fell short of his partners. Eventually, India were left with 31 runs to score off the last over. Samson did score a few (20 runs) but they were not enough and India lost. While many praised the wicketkeeper batter for his fighting inning, a section of fans criticized him for his approach while batting with tailenders.
A Twitter user termed Samson’s knock “selfish” and “pathetic”. Others too joined in critiquing the batter as they shared their views in the comment section of the tweet.
Check them out here: