IPL 2021: How Sanju Samson's hundred was undone by the misjudgment of final two balls

Sanju Samson was playing a knock for the ages for Rajasthan Royals. It looked like lightning would once again hit Punjab Kings. The total of 221 was in danger of being chased down. Just like Sharjah 2020. Samson, the newly appointed Rajasthan Royals skipper, had scored a hundred. The equation down to five runs off two balls. Samson was on the verge of becoming a hero for the ages. But, in the next two balls, what audiences witnessed was a classic case of misjudgment. 

The fifth ball bowled by Arshdeep Singh was full and wide outside off. Samson thumped it to wide long-off. In a bizarre moment, he refused to take the single. The non-striker was Chris Morris. THE Chris Morris, who secured a record Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL auction. He denied the single and left it upon himself for glory. In the final ball, Samson mistimed the to deep cover and Deepak Hooda took the catch.

Punjab Kings won by four runs. In the end, the misjudgment by Samson undid all his good work. In any situation, every run counts. Morris could have hit a boundary. He is a much more capable bat then what his two runs off four balls suggested. Sunil Gavaskar, commentating on air, suggested that Morris’ initial struggles might have forced Samson to go for glory.

Self belief at the cost of a win?

Kumar Sangakkara hailed Samson’s belief. The Rajasthan Royals skipper, in the post-match presentation, said, “I don’t think I could have done anything more. I timed it well, but unfortunately couldn’t clear the man in the deep.”

The first part of the sentence is slightly problematic. Samson could have given the strike to Morris. The South African could have found the rope. He might have not. A super over was possible even if it was not a boundary. In that statement, Samson tried to hide his go for glory bit.

There is nothing wrong with going for glory. But, when it does not come off, it looks bad. This is what has happened with Samson’s knock. Agreed, it was a great knock. All the statistics accumulated are great. But, a knock is valuable if the team gets over the line. In Samson’s case, it was in vain. 

This century by Samson will be considered in the ‘only if’ category. It was a shame that such a marvelous knock would be undone by two balls of misjudgment.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not reflect the views of the organization.