Sanju Samson smashes IPL 2017’s first ton to guide Delhi Daredevils to huge win

Sanju Samson scored the first century of IPL 2017 as Delhi Daredevils defeated Rising Pune Supergiant in their Indian Premier League clash.

Sanju Samson slammed a 62-ball century as Delhi Daredevils piled up a promising total against hosts Rising Pune Supergiant at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday. (LIVE BLOG)

Sanju Samson of Delhi Daredevil raises his bat after scoring his century against Rising Pune Supergiant. (BCCI)

The 22-year-old wicket-keeper batsman, who was dismissed for a paltry 13 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous game, took on the Supergiant attack at will since arriving at the crease and slammed six boundaries en route to his half-century. (LIVE SCORECARD)

Out in the middle after Deepak Chahr sent pack Aditya Tare with his first ball in the second over of the match, Samson smashed two consecutive boundaries off the remaining deliveries before repeating the act in the next over against Ashok Dinda.

With Sam Billings settling down at the other end, Samson took charge to have a go at the bowlers and picked up two more boundaries against Chahr and Stokes off successive overs. The constant attack from one end helped Billings to settle down as well with the England international picking up three consecutive boundaries against Chahr in the sixth over.

The boundaries did dry up at the end of the powerplay session with a vividly upset Stephen Fleming addressing the team during the strategic time-out but Samson kept rotating the strike to keep the scoreboard going. With Billings gone in the ninth over, Samson paired well with Pant to rebuild the innings for the Delhi team. He reached the half-century mark with a single down to long-on but he was extremely lucky as the lofted shot fell just short of the fielder.

However, there was no looking back for him after that. He lofted Adam Zampa for his first six in the 15th over and got back to the momentum with which he had started the knock. He took 19 off Dinda’s third over, including two gigantic sixes and a boundary, before lofting Zampa for the maximum in the next over to bring up the first century of this year’s IPL.

Zampa got his revenge with the very next delivery as he clean bowled Samson to put an end to the carnage. However, the damage was already done. This was the first century of this year’s Indian Premier League and it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for the Daredevils who will hope to bank on the knock to pick up their first victory of the season.