Sanju Samson scored the first century of VIVO IPL 2017 and powered the Delhi Daredevils to a mammoth score, after which the DD bowlers took centerstage to dismiss the home side Rising Pune Supergiant.
After being put in to bat, Delhi Daredevils scored 205-4 – their first 200-plus total since 2012 – and then bundled out the home side for 108 to register a resounding 97-run victory.
Young Samson walked out to bat in the second over after Aditya Tare edged Deepak Chahar to the wicket-keeper. The Kerala-lad began aggressively, scoring four boundaries in his first six deliveries he faced; he square drove Chahar to pick up boundaries off successive deliveries, and then hit AshokeDinda for boundaries on either side of the wicket at the start of the third over.
By the time the powerplay had ended, Delhi Daredevils had raced to 62-1; Samson had 35 from 19 balls, while Sam Billings had 21 from 12 deliveries.
In the period after the fielding restrictions were relaxed and until the last five overs of the innings, Samson settled down to pick up singles and rotate the strike. In this period, Rishabh Pant took charge and scored 31 off 21 balls, studded with a boundary and two sixes. In the nine-overs period, DD added 61 runs losing the wicket of Billings (24).
Come the final phase of the innings, and Sanju switched gears yet again; he hit Imran Tahir for a six in the 17th over and hit AshokeDinda for two sixes and a boundary in the eighteenth. At the start of the nineteenth, he hit Adam Zampa straight over his head and into the sightscreens to bring up his maiden T20 ton in style; Sanju’s was the 43rd in the history of the IPL, and at 22 years and 151 days, the Kerala batsman became the second-youngest to post a three-figure score. He paced his innings brilliantly and was eventually dismissed for 102, when his stumps were rattled by Adam Zampa.
Chris Morris bludgeoned the DD bowlers for four boundaries and three massive sixes in his 9-ball cameo which yielded him 38 runs. Courtesy Morris and Samson’s blitz in the end, DD added 76 runs in the final four overs and finished with 205-4.
Not surprisingly, most of the RPS bowlers came in for stick. Deepak Chahar struck first delivery but that was the only success he had on the night, while Imran Tahir added one more wicket to take his tally of wickets in the competition to six.
RPS, without the services of their regular captain Steven Smith, got off to a decent start with AjinkyaRahane and Mayank Agarwal adding 24 runs in the first three overs. But thereafter they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and were eventually bowled out for 108 in 16.1 overs. This was the first-ever occasion that Rising Pune Supergiant had lost all ten wickets in an innings.
Delhi Daredevils were outstanding with the ball; their bowlers bowled good areas, bowled with good pace and were well supported by the fielders. It was the first-time ever that all ten batsmen were dismissed “caught” in the IPL.Zaheer Khan accounted for the wickets of the openers and eventually finished with figures of 3-20, while Amit Mishra, introduced into the attack in the twelfth over, too finished with figures of 3-11. Pat Cummins picked up two wickets, while Shahbaz Nadeem and Chris Morris chipped in with a wicket each.
Brief Scores
Delhi Daredevils: 205-4 (Sanju Samson 102, Chris Morris 38*, Imran Tahir 1-24) beat
Rising Pune Supergiant: 108 in 16.1 Overs (Mayank Agarwal 20, Zaheer Khan 3-20, Amit Mishra 3-11)
Man of the Match: Sanju Samson
