Sanju Samson made history on Friday, becoming the first-ever cricketer to hit back-to-back T20I centuries for India in the opening T20I against South Africa in Durban, following up his scintillating 111 off 47 balls in the previous match against Bangladesh.
Samson brought up his century in just 47 balls, blasting 7 fours and 9 sixes, and also set a new record for the fastest T20I century by an Indian against South Africa.
With this achievement, he became the third cricketer from a Test-playing nation and the fourth overall to do so, joining the ranks of England`s Phil Salt, South Africa`s Rilee Rossouw, and France`s Gustav McKeon—the first player to accomplish the feat.
The 29-year-old`s consistent performances in the shortest format have earned him a prominent spot in India`s T20I lineup, especially following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, which opened up key positions in the top order. Samson has seized this opportunity with both hands, solidifying his place as one of India`s premier T20I batters.
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In addition to his international success, Samson`s leadership of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been commendable. The franchise retained him for Rs 18 crore ahead of the 2025 IPL mega auction, after guiding them to two playoffs in the last three seasons.
Earlier in the match, South Africa won the toss and elected to field first against India.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
