India continued a remarkable purple patch in T20 internationals by making 283 for one against South Africa on Friday.

Sanju Samson contributed a century in India’s 135-run win over the Proteas and here, the PA news agency looks at his form and the recent scores in the format.

Record books rewritten

Four of the five highest scores in men’s T20I history have come in a little over a month as India and Zimbabwe cut loose.

– India’s effort in Johannesburg on Friday follows five weeks on from their 297 for six against Bangladesh on October 12 in Hyderabad, which ranks third on the all-time list.

– In between those two games, Zimbabwe have made the highest and fourth-highest T20I scores with their astonishing 344 for four against Gambia topping the list. Sikandar Raza hit 133 not out off 43 balls, with 15 sixes, with blistering half-centuries too for Tadiwanashe Marumani, Clive Madande and Brian Bennett.

  1. 344/4 - Zimbabwe v Gambia, Oct 23, 2024
  2. 314/3 - Nepal v Mongolia, Sep 27, 2023
  3. 297/6 - India v Bangladesh, Oct 12, 2024
  4. 286/5 - Zimbabwe v Seychelles, Oct 19, 2024
  5. 283/1 - India v South Africa, Nov 15, 2024

– Gambia were bowled out for 54 in response, meaning Zimbabwe’s winning margin of 290 runs was also a world record.

– It came four days after they scored 286 for five against the Seychelles, Bennett making 91 and Marumani 86 in an opening stand of 145 in 9.4 overs.

– The score in second on the list, Nepal’s 314 for three against Mongolia, only dates back just over a year to September 2023. Kushal Malla hit 137no off 50 balls before his side bowled Mongolia out for 41 to win by 273 runs.

Boom or bust

Samson’s ton against the Proteas continued an extraordinary sequence of scores for the opener.

– He also made a century in the aforementioned game against Bangladesh, 111 off 47 balls with 11 fours and eight sixes.

– That was followed by 107 off 50, with seven fours and 10 sixes, in the first of the four-match series in South Africa. He became the first Indian and only the fourth batter with consecutive T20I hundreds, joining France’s Gustav Mckeon, South Africa’s own Rilee Rossouw and England’s Phil Salt.

– Samson was then dismissed without scoring in each of the next two matches, before Friday’s unbeaten 109 off 56 balls with six fours and nine sixes.

  • 111 v Bangladesh, Oct 12 (47 balls, 11x4, 8x6)
  • 107 v South Africa, Nov 8 (50 balls, 7x4, 10x6)
  • 0 v South Africa, Nov 10 (3 balls)
  • 0 v South Africa, Nov 13 (2 balls)
  • 109no v South Africa, Nov 15 (56 balls, 6x4, 9x6)

– He had not made a T20 international hundred prior to this current run, with just two fifties and a top score of 77, and has hit 27 sixes in his last five games compared to 19 in 28 innings before that.

– Tilak Varma’s 120 not out, off 47 balls with nine fours and 10 sixes, made India the first team to score two hundreds in the same T20I innings against another Test-playing nation.

– Following his 107no in the third match of the series, it added Varma’s name to the list of back-to-back centurions.