Former pacer Dale Steyn was all praise for Team India batter Sanju Samson, who played a brilliant knock on Thursday, October 6 in Lucknow in the second ODI against South Africa. Samson showcased why he is regarded as one of the most promising batters in Indian cricket. He played a crucial inning, but couldn’t get the team over the line.
Chasing 250 runs, Team India was in a spot of bother having lost four wickets for 51 runs. However, Sanju Samson built partnerships with Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur to bail the team out of trouble. He reached to his fifty in the 36th over and continued the attack.
Needing 30 runs from the last over, Sanju Samson slammed three boundaries and a six over. He remained unbeaten with 86 runs off 63 deliveries. However, it wasn’t enough as India lost by nine runs. Despite the loss, the wicketkeeper was hailed by the experts and the fans.
“As soon as KG (Kagiso Rabada) bowled that no-ball in the last ball of his over, I was like, ‘please don’t let this happen’. Because you never know with someone like Sanju, especially with the form that he has got and the belief that he has. I watched him in the IPL, his ability to take down the bowlers and hit boundary at will, especially in the last 2 overs of the game, is incredible,” said Dale Steyn to Starsports.
“Shamsi was going to bowl the last over and he (Samson) knew he (Shamsi) had a rough day. I was nervous when KG bowled the no-ball. Because Sanju is the kind of guy who has the potential of Yuvi, to hit those six sixes and get the team across the line when it needs 30+,” he added.
A valiant unbeaten 8⃣6⃣* from @IamSanjuSamson nearly got #TeamIndia over the line as he is our Top Performer from the second innings 👌
A look at his batting summary 👇 #INDvSA
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/d65WZUCu2U pic.twitter.com/Xc8D6lqRby
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 6, 2022
Missed connecting two shots, next time I will work even harder: Sanju Samson
Team India batter Sanju Samson expressed that he wanted to win the match for India and will work harder, as he failed to connect two shots during the final phase of the match. He added that he was satisfied with his contribution to the team. Sanju Samson said,
“It is always nice to spend some time in the middle and we always play to take our team over the line. I missed connecting two shots, next time I will work even harder. But I am satisfied with my contribution. Their bowlers were going about things nicely, Tabraiz Shamsi was a little expensive today so we felt we can target them.”
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