India's star wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson had a disappointing outing in the third T20I against South Africa. He was dismissed for a duck by left-arm pacer Marco Jansen at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Unfortunately, this dismissal set an unwanted record for Samson in T20I cricket. Following his back-to-back T20I centuries, Sanju Samson's form took a significant dip during the South Africa tour. After a disappointing duck in the second T20I, he failed to recover in the third match.
In the opening over of the third T20I, Marco Jansen delivered a well-directed delivery to Samson, who was caught off guard. The ball crashed into the off-stump, leaving Samson stranded at the crease with a duck.
Samson misjudged the bounce of the ball, expecting it to bounce higher. However, the ball skidded off the surface and caught him off guard. Jansen, visibly delighted with the wicket, celebrated enthusiastically.
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This was Samson's second consecutive duck in the South Africa T20I series. He became only the second player from a full-member nation to register five ducks in a calendar year in T20I cricket, after Zimbabwe's Regis Chakabva.
Sanju Samson holds the unfortunate record for the most ducks (5) by an Indian batter in a calendar year in T20I cricket. Following him are Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli, each with 3 ducks in a calendar year.
Overall, Rohit Sharma leads the list of Indian batters with the most ducks (12), followed by Virat Kohli (7). With his recent duck, Samson has moved to the third spot with 6 ducks. Among Indian wicket-keeper batters, Samson has surpassed Rishabh Pant (4) to become the player with the most ducks.
India got off to a shaky start with the dismissal of their first match centurion Samson. However, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma steadied India's boat and started banging every ball which came in their radar. While Abhishek cracked a blistering 25-ball 50, Tilak Varma is still unbeaten at 53 off 34 as of 13.3 overs.
India's Playing XI:
Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy
South Africa's Playing XI:
Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla
