Sanju Samson, as an 18-year-old, had set the IPL alight in 2013, which was his breakthrough season. He did well again the following season, but then fizzled out. By the time this celebratory 10th season came about, he was being referred to as a one-season wonder. He had also developed a knack of throwing his wicket away, like he did in Delhi’s previous game, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, when he mistimed a hook.
Samson, now 22, walked out at one-down against Rising Pune Supergiant early after Aditya Tare fell in the second over of the innings. He started off with some gorgeous cover drives for four, which found the gaps in spite of a crowded off-side field. He raced along to 35 off 19 balls as Delhi finished the Powerplay at a healthy 62/1.
However, once he lost his partner Sam Billings after the Powerplay, he dropped anchor, letting Rishabh Pant go for the shots. Delhi’s run-rate dropped by a fair bit in the middle overs. In 10 overs after the Powerplay, the team could score only 67 runs. On a great batting surface, Delhi were at risk of ending up well short of the par-score of 180-190.
With less than five overs to go, Pant was run-out after a brilliant direct-hit from Mayank Agarwal. Delhi were at 128/3 at the point, and this is where Samson flicked the switch on again. Long-off, long-on, mid-wicket, square-leg, none were spared as Samson muscled his way to the first century of this season, which came off just 62 balls. And to think, he had taken 41 deliveries to reach his fifty. His second fifty had taken him just 21 deliveries.
Morris goes berserk
Samson was dismissed soon after reaching his century, going for another big one. But Pune’s misery was not over, as Chris Morris walked in at No 6. The South African all-rounder went totally berserk as he hit 38 runs off just nine balls to take Delhi past the 200-mark. Delhi had scored 76 runs in the last four overs. The final over of the innings, bowled by Ben Stokes, read: 1, 4, 2, 4, 6, 6.
Pune’s meek surrender
Pune were so deflated by those last four overs that they just gave up. Or at least that’s what it seemed like after they succumbed to 108 all-out in 16.1 overs. Amit Mishra and captain Zaheer Khan got three wickets apiece. Pune were without skipper Steven Smith, who missed out because of a stomach bug, and without their talismanic captain, the team just crumbled. They managed to score just six more runs than what Samson managed all by himself.
Pune, thereby, lost their second game on the trot after their opening win over Mumbai Indians. Delhi, meanwhile, have bounced back after their opening defeat to RCB with an emphatic all-round performance. This was their best ever win in terms of runs in the IPL.
Brief scores:
Delhi Daredevils 205/4 (Sanju Samson 102, Chris Morris 38*; Imran Tahir 1/24) beat Rising Pune Supergiant 108 (Mayank Agarwal 20; Amit Mishra 3/11, Zaheer Khan 3/20) by 97 runs.
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