Sanju Samson finally lived up to his potential and notched up a brilliant century in the third ODI between India and South Africa on December 21, 2023. Samson continued his love affair against South Africa in Paarl. His previous best score in ODIs, also came against the Proteas, when he scored 86 runs at home.
He came in at no.3 in this ODI after India was asked to bat first by Proteas captain Aiden Markram. Samson replaced debutant Rajat Patidar at the crease, who made 22 in his maiden ODI innings.
South Africa continued to take wickets, but Samson added valuable runs with KL Rahul (21) and Tilak Varma (52). Rinku Singh’s 38 and Washington Sundar’s quick 14 runs took India to 296/8 in 50 overs.
SA v IND 2023-24: Cricket fraternity lauds Sanju Samson as his maiden ODI ton propels India to 296/8 in series decider
But the toast of the Indian innings was Sanju Samson who hammered 108 in 114 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. This was his first century in any format for India since making his debut back in 2015 and it came in his 16th ODI for Men in Blue.
Following his century, Samson flexed his muscles to celebrate the memorable feat and his celebration has quickly gone viral on social media.
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Sanju Samson was emotional after finally getting the monkey of an international century off his back.
He said after the Indian innings: “Feels really emotional, going through the emotions now. Very happy to achieve this. Have been putting in a lot of work physically and mentally, happy to see the results go my way now. They bowled really well with the new ball, and the older ball was getting slower and more difficult to bat. So, after KL got out, they had the momentum where Maharaj was bowling very well. But me and Tilak stuck it out and went strong at the end. We were playing an extra all-rounder today, so me and Tilak had decided that we have to go hard from the 40th over onwards.”
Meanwhile, the Indian fans on social media also reacted to Sanju Samson’s bicep flexing celebration after his maiden ODI century.
Here are some posts:
