Delhi Daredevils youngsters Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant have received special praise from the legendary Sourav Ganguly after their blistering knocks helped the capital-based outfit to stage one of the greatest chases in the history of the IPL on Thursday night (May 4) at Feroz Shah Kotla. Chasing a mammoth 209 against Gujarat Lions, the Daredevils chased down the total with over two overs remaining.
Needing more than 10 runs per over right from the start of the innings, the home side needed early momentum. However, the early departure of their stand-in captain Karun Nair pegged them back initially. But what unfolded thereafter was total carnage.
Samson and Pant fired on all cylinders right from the time when the latter joined the former in the middle and put the Daredevils on the path to an easy comfortable win with a 143-run stand off just 63 deliveries. The carnage began in the fifth over when Pant clobbered Pradeep Sangwan for a couple of sixes and a four to collect 17 runs in the penultimate over of the powerplay.
From there on, it was a one-way traffic as both the batsmen especially Pant batted fearlessly to put the game beyond the Lions’ reach with every passing over. Pant soon completed his fifty in 27 balls with the help of two fours and five hits over the fence as he and Samson went all out to help Delhi reach the 100-run mark in just 9.1 overs.
There was still no stopping them as they dealt only in boundaries and notched up 100- run partnership for the second wicket in just 46 deliveries. The stunning partnership was finally broken when Ravindra Jadeja accounted for Samson for 61 runs. In the very next over, Pant departed too and missed out on a well-deserved century by just three runs. Pant’s 97-run knock had come off just 43 balls with the help of 6 fours and 9 sixes while Samson scored his 61 from 31 balls with the help of 7 sixes.
The duo has been garnering praise from all over since their heroic partnership and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has also joined the bandwagon.
Ganguly took to Twitter to praise the duo and urged the other teams to keep and eye on them.
“Rishabh pant,Sanju Samson …tonite wow..keep an eye on them teams …they are special..,” he tweeted.
Rishabh pant,Sanju Samson …tonite wow..keep an eye on them teams …they are special..
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) May 4, 2017