IPL 2023: Sanju Samson misses his fifty to get Yashasvi Jaiswal to hundred, wins hearts online

Rajasthan Royals (RR) had an evening worth remembering at the Eden Garden, Kolkata on Thursday. They defeated the host Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets with almost seven overs left.

KKR, who batted first, could only put 149 runs on the board at a loss of eight wickets, which the Royals, powered by a blitzing knock of unbeaten 98 off 47 balls from the opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, chased down very easily.

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Jaiswal, who also registered the faster IPL fifty hitherto — in just 13 deliveries, set off from the very first ball of the second inning with two consecutive sixes. The very first over cost a whopping 26 runs to the host KKR. His fellow opener Jos Buttler, however, didn’t have that good of an evening though. Not only did he get run out for a duck after getting into a mix-up with Jaiswal, but his action following the dismissal was seen as a violation of the IPL Code of Conduct and was penalised 10 per cent of the match fee.

Meanwhile, when Jaiswal’s stormy knock got to 94, he got off strike, on the last ball of the thirteenth over. RR at this point needed only three runs and captain Sanju Samson, who was also on 48 runs, was on the strike. Bowler Suyash bowled a wide and surprisingly Samson blocked the ball for Jaiswal to finish the match in the next over perhaps with a six to complete his second century of the season.

Jaiswal still fell two runs short of a century as he could only get a four on the first ball of the next over. However, his celebration was nothing less than that for a ton.

The selfless gesture from Samson, who could have also instead finished the game and completed his half-century, is winning hearts on the internet and people are drawing parallels with what MS Dhoni did for Virat Kohli during the 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final.

#SanjuSamson
That’s why he is Mahi sir 2.0