Sanju Samson played according to the merit of the ball: Anil Kumble

Former Indian leg-spinner and commentator Anil Kumble has stated that the England pace spearhead Jofra Archer failed to bowl proper lines and lengths to the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson.

Notably, India went on to bag a seven-run win against England in the second semi-final as they advanced to the grand finale of the showpiece event. Speaking exclusively on ESPNcricinfo, Kumble reckoned that barring one ball, Archer missed his lines at the in-form opener.

Interestingly, Samson was dropped by Harry Brook off Archer's bowling in the third over. He went on to score an 89-run knock off 42 balls with eight fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 211.9 as India posted 253/7 in 20 overs.

"I think the lengths that Archer bowled [was the difference]. It needs to be by the nose. Except for one ball, the line was wrong and then he [Samson] picked it up nicely for a six because the fine leg was up. But, what was really good about Samson was that he was looking to hit straight again,” Anil Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo.

"He played according to the merit of the ball and that's how he exactly countered Jofra Archer. Because of the form that he is in, you could see the bat swing coming straight," he added.

On the other hand, the former South African captain Faf du Plessis has also heaped praise on the swashbuckling opening batter Samson, who scored two consecutive fifty-plus scores to win the player of the match awards.

"The worst thing you can do as a batter in form like that is lose your concentration and get a nice 20 and don't play an impactful innings. He's done that [got a big score] again in back-to-back innings. One of the unbelievable knocks,” Faf du Plessis said.

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