India beat West Indies by five wickets in T20 thriller

Sanju Samson's unbeaten 97 off 50 balls fired India to a five-wicket victory over West Indies at Eden Gardens, ending the Caribbean side's T20 World Cup campaign and sending the hosts into the semi-finals.

India chased down 196 with four balls to spare, finishing at 199 for 5 to beat West Indies by five wickets in their T20 World Cup Super 8 tie at Eden Gardens. Sanju Samson's unbeaten 97 off 50 balls — featuring 12 fours and four sixes — was the innings that defined the match. West Indies had posted a competitive 195 for 4, anchored by a 76-run unbroken fifth-wicket partnership between Rovman Powell (34 off 19) and Jason Holder (37 not out off 22). Jasprit Bumrah was India's chief destroyer with the ball, taking 2 for 36. The result eliminates West Indies from the tournament. India, who had earlier lost to South Africa in their opening Super 8 match, secured back-to-back must-win victories to book a semi-final berth against England at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on March 5.

West Indies' elimination ends their T20 World Cup campaign at the Super 8 stage, denying Caribbean fans the prospect of a home-crowd final push in a tournament where India's roaring Eden Gardens crowd underlined the difficulty of away-conditions knockout cricket. Samson's 97 — just three runs short of a historic century — was the difference between a narrow Windies victory and a comfortable Indian one. The Powell-Holder late blitz showed there is match-winning talent in the Caribbean batting line-up, but the inability to defend a total of 195 will sting.

"Samson's unbeaten 97 off 50 balls included 12 fours and four sixes — he took 10 runs from the first two deliveries of the final over to seal India's semi-final place."

— CaribbeanCricket.com

West Indies showed fight but came up short: The Caribbean side overcame a slow start to post a formidable 195 for 4, with Powell and Holder's unbroken 76-run stand demonstrating real lower-order depth. The performance offered encouragement, but ultimately the target proved insufficient against a Samson-inspired India.

Women's cricket structural issues need urgent attention: Former Windies seamer Shakera Selman argues that Caribbean women cricketers are not playing enough cricket at regional or international level to develop at the pace of their global rivals, and that partnerships with overseas leagues and exposure to men's cricket are essential to bridge the gap.

CWI's white-ball focus is a deliberate strategic choice: CWI Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe has defended the decision to cancel the women's one-off Test against Australia, framing it as a resource-allocation call designed to maximise white-ball readiness ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in June.

"Our planning this year prioritizes maximizing white-ball readiness ahead of the World Cup. This series forms a central part of that preparation, allowing us to concentrate resources and build combinations."

— Miles Bascombe, Director of Cricket, Cricket West Indies, via CaribbeanCricket.com

West Indies' exit from the T20 World Cup is disappointing but not entirely surprising. A target of 195 was a genuine effort — Powell and Holder's partnership in particular was the kind of match-defining cameo that Windies cricket has always been capable of producing. But posting 195 and defending 195 are two very different challenges, and against a Samson in that kind of irresistible form, the margin for error was always paper-thin.

The harder question for Cricket West Indies is what comes next. With the women's team also struggling against Sri Lanka on home soil, and structural concerns about player development loudly flagged by respected voices like Shakera Selman, the organisation faces pressure on multiple fronts simultaneously.