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Sanju Samson
Punjab Kings defeated Rajasthan Royals by four runs in a nail-biting thriller that went down to the last ball. Despite Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson scoring a splendid century, he failed to take his side over the line off the last ball of match 4 of the Indian Premier League 2021. Sanju Samson smashed 12 boundaries and seven sixes in his great 63-ball innings. However, in the end, he failed to send Arshdeep Singh's final ball for the maximum runs as Punjab Kings won the match by four runs.
Samson, needing five runs from 2 balls, denied his non-striking partner Chris Morris a single on the last ball of the match. Facing Arshdeep, Samson smashed the second last ball towards the extra-cover region, but the shot only guaranteed a single. Morris ran towards Sanju Samson was but sent back after crossing the halfway line. The Proteas all-rounder didn't look pleased, and there were a few confused faces in the Rajasthan dressing room too.
Samson became the first batsman to score a century on IPL captaincy debut
Sanju Samson became the first batsman to score a century on IPL captaincy debut. This was also his third IPL century in 108 matches. The RR captain overcame the early struggles and a couple of dropped catches to craft one of the best knocks in the history of IPL. Coming in to bat in the first over after Ben Stokes' dismissal, Sanju Samson struggled to time the ball. Despite that, he still kept up with the required run rate. Jos Buttler and Samson's partnership flourished but was cut five runs short of 50 by Richardson. The Australian pacer dismissed Jos Buttler for a 13-ball 25.
Meanwhile, Samson, who was given life at 12 by KL Rahul, continued in a perfect rhythm. He brought up his half-century from just 33 balls. Making his RR debut, Shivam Dube got a brilliant start and contributed 23 from 15 in the 53-run stand with the skipper before getting dismissed by Arshdeep.
The 26-year-old rated the second part of his innings the best he has ever played in the Indian Premier League. Sanju Samson became the second centurion in a losing cause in an IPL game. Surprisingly, both names on the list are from the RR franchise. Yusuf Pathan had scored a 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, in the 2010 edition of the tournament.