IPL 2017, Match 9, RPS v DD: CT Player of the Match – Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson recorded the first century of this year’s IPL, which was also the first of his T20 career. His innings of 102, which came off 63 balls, helped Delhi Daredevils to get onto the points table. His innings was studded with 5 sixes and 8 boundaries and helped DD win the game by a huge margin of 97 runs.

Samson walked into bat at number 3 and immediately hit the straps when he caressed two consecutive boundaries past point on the second and third deliveries he faced. He was middling whatever was bowled at him right from the word go. He hit another set of two consecutive boundaries in the next over – one off the back foot and the other off the front – which was bowled by Ashok Dinda.

Lethal on the off-side

Samson was particularly lethal on the off-side. Five out of his first 6 boundaries were scored on the off side. At one point it seemed like Samson was batting in the nets, such was the quality of batting on display. The 22-year old batsman was smart enough in shifting to second gear when leg-spinners: Tahir and Zampa were in operation. He rotated the strike beautifully and did not get carried away with the form he displayed in the initial part of his innings. He reached his half-century on the 41^st ball he faced.

Shifting gears after reaching fifty:

Daredevils were in a decent position at the end of the 14^th over with the score at 112/2. It was important to push on in the quest of an 180 plus score. This is where Samson’s innings stood out. Reaching the 50-run mark did not satisfy this Kerala lad as he was hungry for more. He switched gears and was on the attack and smashed Zampa in the 15 over for a six over long on. It was a clean strike and Samson made a palpable effort of maintaining his shape to get the maximum result. His 53-run partnership with Rishabh Pant ended in the 16^th over as Pant was run out. Post Pant’s departure, Samson took centre-stage. He hit 3 sixes in space of 7 balls – two off Dinda and one off Tahir – to quickly enter into the nineties. He reached the three-figure mark with a six as well – a neat strike onto the sightscreen – off Zampa to reach the milestone in 62 balls.

Samson is always spoken to have a lot of talent but today he transformed that talent into one of his best performances ever. Since making his debut in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals in 2013, Samson has always been a prodigy but lacked consistency. Getting a big score under his belt so early in the season will augur him well for the remainder of the season. The challenge for him now will be to be consistent.

His knock of 102 makes him the CT Player of the Match and gets a full rating of 5 out of 5.