Sanju survives pace, clean-bowled by Santner's spin; scores 40 runs from 4 innings

Sanju Samson's struggles in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand continued in the fourth match in Visakhapatnam.

Sanju was clean-bowled by Mitchell Santner for 24 off 15. The ball straightened after pitching and hit the middle stump. Sanju, stuck on his backfoot, was fooled by a simple turn as he tried to punch it toward the off side.

It was the first over after powerplay and perhaps Sanju was a tad overconscious with his approach, trying to craft a long innings as India had already lost Abhishek Sharma (0) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (8).

Sanju had been dismissed for 10, 6 and 0 in the earlier matches in the series, losing his wicket inside the powerplay to pacers. Here, he survived Matt Henry, who removed his twice in the series, but was deceived by the cunning of the New Zealand skipper.

New Zealand won by match by 50 runs after dismissing India for 165. The visitors posted 215/7 in 20 overs. Having already won the series, India are 3-1 up going into the final match in Thiruvananthapuram on January 31.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl, with India missing Ishan Kishan due to a niggle. Pacer Arshdeep Singh was back in the side, replacing Kishan, and he picked up 2/33.

For Sanju Samson, getting big runs in this match was key before the series moved to his hometown of Thiruvananthapuram. With the T20 World Cup in sight, Sanju would definitely want to finish the series on a high note, should he get one more chance.