Kerala-born batter Sanju Samson ended his wait for his maiden international hundred. Samson scored 110 against South Africa in the series decider at Bolard Park, Paarl to justify his promotion up the order. After scoring his century from 110 balls, Samson celebrated it by flexing his biceps and pointing towards the dressing room. During the innings break, he revealed his emotions after achieving a major milestone in his career.
“Feels really emotional, going through the emotions now. Very happy to achieve this. Have been putting in a lot of work physically and mentally, happy to see the results go my way now,” the 29-year-old told the broadcasters.
Samson was cautious against South African pacers when the ball was new. At times, he curbed his natural instinct to attack and stitched partnerships with skipper KL Rahul and later with Tilak Varma. The 116-run partnership with Varma is the second-highest for the fourth wicket or below for India against South Africa in ODIs.
“They bowled really well with the new ball, and the older ball was getting slower and more difficult to bat. So after KL got out, they had the momentum where Maharaj was bowling very well. But me and Tilak stuck it out and went strong at the end. We were playing an extra all-rounder today, so me and Tilak had decided that we have to go hard from the 40th over onwards,” he added.
Samson's 108-run knock from 114 balls was laced with six fours and three sixes. Towards the end, he accelerated. He scored 44 runs off the last 24 deliveries he faced. After his wicket, Rinku Singh's cameo and minor contributions from the lower order helped India post 296/8. This is India’s second-highest total against the hosts in South Africa.
Samson has had a good record against South Africa in the format. So far, he has scored 238 runs from five innings including a century and a half-century.
