It was completely a team game today – Sanju Samson on his defining knock against New Zealand

Sanju Samson unleashed his furious best against New Zealand in the series opener in Christchurch as India braved through a daunting chase to go 1-0 up in the T20I series.

Samson hammered 67 off 33 balls, smashing eight fours and four sixes, propelling India to a successful chase of 226 with two balls and four wickets to spare.

Samson bagged the Player of Match award for his incredible knock that allowed India to build upon a solid platform.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Samson opened up on his overall performance while highlighting his chemistry with Abhishek Sharma in the 93-run opening stand.

Reflecting on his sensational opening performance, Samson said, “It feels really good. I think, yes, we are just in the moment where the match has been won. Whatever contribution you make, I think it feels good to end up on the winning side. So it's a really great contribution from all of us in the team. So it was completely a team game today. So really happy that we started off nicely for the series.”

Shedding light on the stellar opening partnership with Abhishek Sharma, Samson added, “We do have a lot of conversations happening in the middle, but nothing makes sense actually. We just watch the ball and hit hard. It has been working very well for us and I like batting with him at the top.”

Explaining the surface and the conditions in Christchurch, Samson stated, “The ball was swinging around a lot, I think in the second half, a bit too much actually. But off the surface it was coming on very nicely. So I think me and Abhi just felt like keeping the shape and having a very positive intent in the powerplay. Once we got off to a flying start, we felt the match could be finished in the first half as well. Six overs, 90-odd runs - that was a great start today. So I think we just wanted to go all out.”

He concluded by talking about how wicket-keeping helps him to assess the conditions, adding, “Absolutely, you definitely think about your batting while you are keeping wickets. But I think today I summed up my way to play the game while keeping, but when I came to bat, it was completely different. In the first half, the ball was stopping a bit from the length area, but in the second half I think the ball was coming on very nicely with heavy dew in the outfield. So I really enjoyed the batting.”