Sanju Samson achieves big milestone with stunning First-Class century after five years

Indian wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson achieved a significant milestone on the second day of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024 match between India D and India B in Anantapur. Samson smoked his 11th First-Class century and his first ton after five years in red-ball cricket on September 20.

With this hundred, the 29-year-old became the only third Kerala player to score 11 or more First-Class centuries, trailing only Sachin Baby (18) and Rohan Prem (13). He returned to his form with an aggressive innings of 106 runs off 101 balls that included 12 fours and three sixes.

Sanju Samson returns to form in Duleep Trophy 2024 with a record century

The right-handed batter came to bat after India D captain Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for a five-ball duck. After a brief partnership with Ricky Bhui (56), Samson took control of the innings and formed a solid partnership with Saransh Jain (26), guiding India D to 306/5 at the end of Day 1.

Well, Saransh fell early on Day 2, but Samson anchored India D’s innings against India B. Joining hands with Saurabh Kumar (13), the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain continued to push the score while reaching his century off just 95 balls in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024 match in Anantapur.

Sanju Samson’s brilliant performance put India D in a commanding position against India D. However, Navdeep Saini managed to dismiss the Kerala star in the 84th over. Following Sanju Samson's dismissal, India D struggled, losing their last four wickets for just 18 runs, with Saini finishing with a five-wicket haul against India D.

Rahul Chahar also contributed significantly to India B's bowling efforts, claiming three wickets in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024 clash in Anantapur. In reply, India B didn’t have a great start as their opener and wicketkeeper Narayan Jagadeesan was removed by Aditya Thakare for just 13 runs.

Samson's century puts India D in control against India B in the Duleep Trophy 2024 clash

The number three batter, Suyash Prabhudessai, was also dismissed for just 16 runs by Saurabh Kumar, and then Arshdeep Singh got the big fish in the form of Musheer Khan for just 5 runs to break the backbone of the India B team. They are currently reeling at 88/3 against India D.

India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav came to bat number five, while India B captain Abhimanyu Easwaran already notched up his fifty in the ongoing red-ball game in Anantapur on Friday.

Notably, the last century in the first-class season for Samson came in December 2019, when he scored 116 for Kerala against Bengal in Thumba. Batting at No. 3, Samson took the Kerala team from 53/3 to 239 all out. Sanju Samson was one of only two batters to score 50+ runs in the inning.

Sanju Samson made his first-class debut back in 2011 but could not dominate the red-ball format with irregular appearances coupled with inconsistent scores. He has 16 fifties to his name in first-class cricket. The RR skipper had scored 5 and 40 runs in the previous Duleep Trophy 2024 match after missing out on the first round of the tournament.