Sanju Samson Scores Maiden Century in International Cricket Career: India vs South Africa ODI Series

Pal: India’s Malayali player Sanju Samson scored his first century in his international cricket career. Sanju scored a century in the third and final match of the ODI series against South Africa. The player faced 114 balls and scored 108 runs including three sixes and six fours. One down, Sanju started slowly and attacked after completing his half-century. 29-year-old Sanju’s century is in the 16th ODI. The highest score of the player’s career was 86 runs off 63 balls in the ODI held in Lucknow last year against South Africa. Openers Sai Sudarshan (10 off 16 balls) and Rajat Patidar (22 off 16 balls with one six and three fours) were out, and India were in trouble. It was the performance of Sanju, who entered the field in the third place, that brought India back to the competition. South African skipper Aideen Markram won the toss and allowed India to bat first. Tilak Verma’s half-century (52 off 77 balls including one six and five fours) helped India post 296 for eight. Buren Hendricks took three wickets for South Africa. Nadre Burger took two wickets and Lizard Williams, Vianne Mulder and Keshav Maharaj took one wicket each. Fans have been showering wishes on social media for Sanju, who batted with maturity when India needed it the most.

Sanju became the first Kerala player to score a century in international cricket. And Sanju also wanted to add his name to the record that was held only by the legend Virat Kohli. Batting at number three against them in South Africa, Sanju reached the record of being the player to score a century for India with Kohli.

Sanju showed batting that could hold his head high in front of those who criticized him. Sanju, who created alliances with Lokesh Rahul and Tilak Verma, returned with a foundation for India. This century performance comes at the most crucial time in Sanju’s career. Sanju was disappointed to be left out of the ODI World Cup squad. Sanju’s joyous performance of scoring a century was shown right in the muscle. When Reza Hendricks caught the ball from Lizard Williams and Sanju left the crease, the teammates and the crowd applauded. Sanju is the eighth Indian batsman to score a maiden century in the country. Kapil Dev, W.V. Raman, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant are the predecessors. The Indian team also achieved a huge record. This is the year when Indian players scored more centuries in ODIs. Sanju’s is the 19th century scored by an Indian player in ODIs this year. Indian players scored 19 centuries in 2017 as well. Sanju reached his maiden century after scoring 402 runs including three fifties at an average of 50.25 in 15 ODIs. The strike rate is 101.00. A century on a pitch that is difficult to bat on will give Sanju a lot of hope. The star could not perform as expected in the second ODI. There was criticism that he was an unstable player, did not shine under pressure and was not good enough to play on foreign pitches. Sanju assessed the situation of the match and played patiently.

The player started slowly and did not play a single bad shot. Sanju completed his half-century in 66 balls after forming a partnership of 52 runs for the third wicket with skipper Lokesh Rahul. Kanni scored his maiden century off 110 balls. Sanju started slowly and later took the field.

Sanju was also able to give confidence to Tilak Varma and make him perform better. It became the foundational alliance for India. Tilak started slowly and attacked after establishing himself. Tilak’s performance in the first matches was disappointing. Tilak showed the batting that relieves the fatigue of this. When Sanju was one down, Tilak got a chance in the middle order.

2023-12-21 19:28:00

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