Sanju Samson Wins Hearts After Turning Out To Bat With Fractured Finger against Gujarat in Ranji Trophy
Jan 17, 2019 at 9:31 AM
Kerala star Sanju Samson won hearts all over with his gritty and heroic gesture in the ongoing Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Gujarat.
The quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy has panned out in a disastrous manner for Sanju Samson. On the very first day of the game at the pacy track at Wayanad, he fractured his finger while batting. He was hit on his right ring finger off the bowling off Arzan Nagwaswalla and was retired hurt. His team then managed to score just 185. But Kerala bowlers came up with a fighting effort with the ball and folded up Gujarat for just 162 to put their side on top.
Gujarat, who started the day at 97/4, lost their last six wickets for just 61 runs. Pacers Basil Thampi and MD Nidheesh claimed three wickets each, while Sandeep Warrier impressed with 4/42. For Gujarat, Skipper Parthiv Patel top-scored with 43 while Roosh Kalaria added 36 down the order.
With a slender 23-run lead on a tough batting pitch, Kerala had the chance to put the game to the bed. However, they were all out for just 171 in the second innings, thus setting a target of 195 runs for Gujarat for a place in the semi-final. But before that, Samson managed to win hearts with his heroic display. Kerala’s second innings seemed to have ended when Sandeep Warrier was dismissed by Piyush Chawla with the score reading 163/9.
However, the players and others in the ground were taken aback when they saw Samson coming out to bat with a fractured finger. The right-handed batsman used just one hand and battled nine deliveries before being dismissed. Samson’s brave display helped Kerala add some valuable runs towards the end which might make a big difference on the tough batting pitch.