Sanju Samson starred with an unbeaten 86 in the 1st ODI vs South Africa but even his brilliant innings failed to take India past the winning mark on Thursday (October 6) at Lucknow. India, who were at 51/4, at one stage with 18 overs gone, should take positives from the fact that they fell short by just 9 runs. It was all thanks to a brilliant fifty from Shreyas Iyer and super knock from Samson. Not to forget, they were supported by Shardul Thakur who made 30 odd in the chase of 250 runs.
Sanju smashed 20 runs off the last over when the requirement was 30. The fact that the top 3 were too slow at the start meant that Samson and Iyer had to cover up for them with too much hiting in the last 20 overs in the rain-curtailed 40-over match. Sanju was asked the same question in the post-match press conference by a journalist to which Sanju said, “If you look at the South Africa innings, it was difficult to make runs against the new ball. After 15-20 overs, Miller and Klaasen batted really well as it became easy to make runs. Ball was still doing a lot but was not moving in air after 20 overs. Likewise, it happened easy for us after 20 overs for me, Iyer and Thakur.”
Reporter : Do you think top order played too slowly and left it too much for you to do at the end
Sanju Samson : the pitch wasn’t easy and even i done mistakes. I left two shots short. One six and four could hv won the match
Never blamed anyone. Took it on himself __ pic.twitter.com/nMrYP6KeQh
— ._____ (@Brutu24) October 7, 2022
The journalist then further asked that did India mistake by not going at better strik rate at the start. Sanju said that mistakes happen and even he did some in the innings of unbeaten 86. “Mistakes happen. I also made some mistakes. I made 86 but I also committed some mistakes. This is a learning for us and we will try and do well in the next match,” said Sanju.
