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Sanju Samson's fluent second hundred of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) cruised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a massive 207-6 against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday in Mumbai at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
Samson was at his best once again as he slammed 101 off 54 balls, laced with 10 fours and 6 sixes, striking at 187.04. This was also Sanju Samson's fifth IPL hundred, taking him to joint fourth on the all-time list alongside KL Rahul, behind Virat Kohli (8), Jos Buttler (7) and Chris Gayle (6). Samson's hundred is the first individual century by a CSK batter against MI in IPL. Mumbai Indians (MI) won the toss and elected to bowl first. Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad opened the innings for CSK. The Powerplay was a high-octane affair, dominated by CSK's aggressive intent. They raced to 73 runs in the first 6 overs, utilising the fielding restrictions to the fullest. This was CSK's second-highest power-play score vs MI in IPL, after 90/0 at the same venue in 2015. Despite losing skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (22 off 14) in the 3rd over to Allah Ghazanfar, the scoring rate didn't dip. Sanju Samson and Sarfaraz Khan continued the attack on MI bowlers, smashing both pace and spin. However, Mitchell Santner, after being smashed for 2 fours, got the better of Khan, removing him for 14, bringing Shivam Dube to the crease. Ghazanfar struck again, removing Shivam Dube in the 9th over for just 5. Samson anchored the innings with a 26-ball fifty, supported by Dewald Brevis (21), before Ashwani Kumar removed Brevis in the 11th over. As the innings progressed to the 15-over mark, CSK reached 149-4. Samson took on the young seamer Krish Bhagat in his first over of the match, smashing him for 15 runs. However, Jasprit Bumrah in the following over struck back, removing Kartik Sharma for 18 off 19 balls, bringing Jamie Overton to the crease. Overton kick-started his innings with back-to-back boundaries off Ashwani Kumar in the 18th over, but Kumar had the final say, dismissing him off the last ball of the over for 15. Jasprit Bumrah once again proved crucial for his side, delivering an impressive 19th over that conceded just 10 runs and finishing with figures of 1/31. Samson smashed 16 runs off the last over to push CSK past 200. (ANI)
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