Duleep Trophy 2024: Sanju Samson impresses with 89 against India B, nears century

Duleep Trophy 2024: Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten 89 off 83 balls as India D finished Day 1 of their match against India B at 306 for the loss of five wickets.

In Short

• Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten 89 against India B
• Samson hit 10 fours and 3 sixes in his knock
• India A made 306 for 5 on Day 1

Sanju Samson looked in impressive form when India D locked horns with India B in their Duleep Trophy match at the Rural Development Trust Stadium B in Ananthapur. On Day 1, India D racked up 306 for five after being asked to bat first and Samson did not let his team down. Samson scored an unbeaten 89 off 83 balls with the help of 10 fours and three sixes.

Devdutt Padikkal and KS Bharat laid the platform with a handy partnership of 105 runs for the opening wicket off 31.1 overs. Even as Padikkal made 50, Bharat scored 52. But both batters perished in a space of three overs. Thereafter, Ricky Bhui took the innings forward with a 56-run knock off 87 balls. He also built a partnership of 53 runs with Nishant Sindhu.

Shreyas Iyer could not open his account, after which Bhui also went back. From there on, Samson took charge and made sure that India D did not suffer any more hiccups on the day. He and Saransh Jain stitched together an unbeaten 90-run stand for the sixth wicket.

But it was Samson who did the bulk of the scoring. He played at higher than a run-a-ball to put the opposition bowlers under pressure. Saransh, at the other end, lent Samson support with a patient 26-run knock off 56 balls, laced with four fours.

Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has been the pick of the bowlers for India B after he had figures of 13-1-60-3. Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini accounted for a wicket apiece.

In India D’s first match against India A, Samson got scores of five and 40. The 29-year-old batter needed some runs in his belt as he keeps trying to become a regular member of the Indian team in limited-overs cricket even after nine years since his debut.