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In a high-scoring encounter at Lord's, London, Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams dazzled with a 24-ball 67 for Essex against Middlesex on June 18. Sams scored at a thunderous strike rate of 279.17. His innings was laced with eight sixes despite him coming to the crease in the 14th over of Essex's innings.
When Sams came in to bat, the score was 143/4. Paul Walter and Sams were both new to the crease. In the 15th over, Sams started off with two consecutive sixes. After two boundary-less overs, Sams went berserk and smashed Ryan Higgins for three sixes in the 18th over.
In the penultimate over, Walter departed and Sams hit a six as 10 runs came of it. In the final over, he went berserk hitting Nathan Fernandes for two fours and two sixes off the first four balls. He got to his half-century from just 20 balls. He got out caught and bowled on the penultimate delivery and helped Essex post a mammoth total of 237/6 on the board.
Earlier, Middlesex skipper Stephen Eskinazi had won the toss and opted to field first. Dan Lawrence and Michael Pepper scored half-centuries for Essex to set the platform for big-hitters to post a total in excess of 200.
Middlesex’s long-running losing streak continues
In the run chase, Eskinazi (28) tried to score quickly but did not get enough support from the other end. Sams came in to play once again and broke the opening partnership in the sixth over. The second wicket to fall was of Ryan Higgins (32). Sams was involved in the dismissal this time too as he took the catch off Lawrence’s bowling. In the 13th over, rain played spoilsport when Middlesex's score was 116/2.
The game could not restart and Essex won the game by 22 runs as per Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method. This was Middlesex’s 10th loss on the trot in the T20 Blast as they are at the bottom of the South Group table.
No game in IPL 2023
In the ongoing T20 Blast, Sams has been handy with both bat and ball. Earlier this year, he was not given a single game by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He was picked for his base price of Rs 75 lakh in IPL 2023 auction. In IPL 2022, he played for Mumbai Indians (MI) and took 13 wickets from 11 games.
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