Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has heaped lavish praise on Sanju Samson after the Delhi Daredevils youngster blasted the first century of this year’s Indian Premier League.
The 22-year old batsman has to garner praise from all over for his magnificent century against the Pune-based franchise on Tuesday (April 12).
After being asked to bat by stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane, the Daredevils were in a spot of bother after Aditya Tare departed for a duck. In walked Samson and the highly-rated batsman made his intentions right from the start as he picked up four boundaries in the first six balls he faced. With Pune spinners bowling a tight line, Samson played cautiously and looked more content on rotating the strike with Sam Billings and Rishabh Pant once the boundaries dried up.
He took 41 deliveries to reach the fifty-run mark but all hell broke loose after that as he dealt only in boundaries in the latter part of his knock. The right-handed batsman clobbered 19 runs off Ashok Dinda’s third over before lofting Adam Zampa for a stunning six to reach the triple-figure mark. He blasted 52 runs off his just 21 balls before he was cleaned up by Adam Zampa. His knock was studded with eight fours and five well-timed sixes.
McCullum took to Twitter to praise the former Rajasthan Royals batsman.
“I love watching Sanju Samson play cricket! He’s some talent!,” the Gujarat Lions opener tweeted.
I love watching Sanju Samson play cricket! Hes some talent!
— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) April 11, 2017
Talking about the match, Delhi Daredevils thrashed Rising Pune Supergiant by 97 runs to open their account in the tournament. Batting first, Delhi posted 205 for 4 with the help of Samson’s ton and Chris Morris’ 9-ball 38 runs knock. In reply, Pune was bowled out for a paltry 108 in the seventeenth over.