India lost 1st ODI to South Africa by a narrow margin of 9 runs On Thursday (October 9) at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow and the reason why the gap was so small was a name: Sanju Samson, India’s star batsman nearly took India home with an unbeaten 86. But no support from the other end meant that India lost the match by 9 runs. When the requirement was 30, he scored 20 runs in the last over. Tabrez Shamsi held his nerves to win the Proteas men to secure crucial ICC World Cup Super League points as South Africa, who desperately need to qualify for the 2023 mega event in India. ,
Coming back to Samson, he came to bat at 51/4 in the 18th over of the rain-interrupted 40-over match. Samson started slowly when Shreyas Iyer was going blazing from the other end. Iyer scored 50 runs in 37 balls which included 8 fours. After his fall, Samson was joined by Shardul Thakur, who scored 33 runs off 31 balls. It was then that Sanju did his power-hitting and started collecting boundaries. With 30 required from 70 balls, he and Thakur started attacking every ball. But in the 38th over of Lungi Nagigi, Thakur was dismissed on a brilliant catch by Keshav Maharaj and then Kuldeep Yadav also fell in the same over. Two wickets again pushed India on the back foot.
Sanju could not keep the strike till the 39th over and the new man in Avesh Khan wasted the entire over before getting out. In the last over, India needed 30 runs from the last 6 balls and Sanju still put up his best effort in the over by hitting 1 six and 3 fours respectively. But in the end India lost by 9 runs.
After his scintillating innings, fans took to Twitter to rave about his innings, while others said that India made a mistake by not taking him to the World Cup.
Watch the reaction of fans after Sanju Samson’s innings:
Sanju Samson has scored 40+ scores in four of his seven ODIs (three of them in 2022)
He has also made 39 (25), 18 (12), 77 (42), 30* (23), 15 (11) in five T20 Internationals this year.
The T20 World Cup may not be in the team, but will be an integral part of the limited overs team after that.#INDvSA— Rohit Shankar (@imRohit_SN) 6 October 2022
He actually picked Hooda over this Sanju Samson _
Rohit’s loss _ – Ajit Sadha (@AjithSadha) 6 October 2022
Ah well, what a heroic effort in the end from Sanju Samson. Really good bat, proud of you! A good future is sure in ODI cricket. What is the game of cricket too?#INDvSA— Sanchitd ( _ GoW Ragnarok Hype _ ) (@sanchitd43) 6 October 2022
All to Sanju Samson. A top selfish innings with no sporting awareness. #IndvsSAodi @CricCrazyJohns pic.twitter.com/LFugYh8LYk— rohan sharma (@rohan3242) 6 October 2022
Sanju Samson, great effort! #indvsa pic.twitter.com/1sKRFVUsT4— Sayantan Bhattacharjee (@sayantan90s) 6 October 2022
Sanju Samson You Beauty__#Sanju #indvsa— Krutika Vajpayee (@KratikaVajpayee) 6 October 2022
Sanju is a great talent. pure silky striker #INDvsSA
— gaurav kalra (@gauravkalra75) 6 October 2022
If I had a choice between Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson for a place in the World Cup squad, I would have known who I would pick. — Joy Bhattacharya (@joybhattacharj) 6 October 2022
What a gritty player he is, an innings to remember. Couldn’t take India home sad but intended @IamSanjuSamson It was wonderful to see just shown. #indvsa pic.twitter.com/KEWha7sWno— Amit Mishra (@MishAmit) 6 October 2022
Sanju Samson’s last over reveals why he deserves the T20 World Cup. #sanju samson #IndvsSAodi pic.twitter.com/OQb8B0rbaN— rj (@rj_386) 6 October 2022
In a perfect world, Sanju Samson would have been one of the first names in India’s T20 World Cup squad. But here he is! Despite proving it many times in the past, he is trying to prove his ability. #INDvSA
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) 6 October 2022
And “Sanju Samson” is not in your T20 World Cup squad because you like _____ ______ ___ #IndvsSAodi— Satya Choudhary (@satyagodara) 6 October 2022
I don’t think Sanju Samson is going to play the remaining two matches of this series in a few hours, Captain Rohit Sharma will call Sanju Samson to come to Australia for the T20 World Cup. – Huge. (@sportygiant) 6 October 2022