The first ODI between India and South Africa ended in a late thriller with the visitors clinching a nine-run victory. The game was reduced to 40-over per side after rain postponed the kick-off timing. Batting first, South Africa did well to post a target of 250 for the second-string Indian team.
Starting off to a horrible start in a tricky chase, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson built a good partnership in the middle. However, Iyer couldn’t continue his exploits and left Samson alone to make the difficult chase. With no remarkable support from the other end, Samson fought well but that wasn’t enough to get his team over the line.
30 runs were needed off the last over and Samson hammered three consecutive boundaries in the first three balls. But still the target was too big to achieve and the Men in Blue lost the series opener. However, the right-handed batter won praise from all over the world for his incredible efforts.
Former South African cricketer Dale Steyn also expressed his impression of the Indian batter. The former bowler feels that Sanju has the ability to hit six sixes in an over like Yuvraj Singh. He also admitted that he felt nervous when Kagiso Rabada bowled a no-ball as he knew Samson’s hitting reach.
“Shamsi was going to bowl the last over and he (Samson) knew he (Shamsi) had a rough day. I was nervous when KG bowled the no ball. Because Sanju is a kind of guy who has the potential of Yuvraj Singh, to hit those six sixes and get team across the line when it needs 30+,” said Steyn.
Despite performing well in recent games, Samson didn’t find himself on the team sheet for the T20 World Cup 2022 which is scheduled to get underway later this month. Though there is still time to make changes to the squad, it remains to be seen if the wicketkeeper batter could be called up following his exploits with the bat against South Africa.
