Smashing ton from Sanju stands apart in Nizam territory

Sanju Samson hit his 2nd hundred in the Indian Premier League as Rajasthan Royals muscled towards a strong total against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday. 

Samson, playing his 83rd match, was involved in a 119-run partnership with RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane (70) before unleashing some audacious shots.

The youngster from Kerala is only 24-years-old but his classy shots left fans and experts in awe. He was attacking from the outset and kept the run-rate on the higher side even when Rahane was watchful at the start of the innings. 

Jos Buttler, the most dangerous of all of Royals' batsmen, fell to Rashid Khan in his first over but Samson was not going to be overawed by the early setback.

A fine century from Samson and a knock of 70 by the Skipper, propelled the Rajasthan Royals to a healthy total of 198/2.

This is the first hundred of the 2019 IPL. David Warner came close to scoring a hundred for Sunrisers Hyderabad but he was dismissed for 85, on the day Andre Russell ran riot. Like that day, Sanju's ton was sadly in a futile cause too.

Samson had scored his maiden IPL hundred in 2017 and was on fire in the 2018 IPL when he smashed 441 runs from 15 matches.

Sanju has now joined an elite list of Indian batsmen with his second IPL hundred. While Virat Kohli (4) has the most hundreds by an Indian batsman, Murali Vijay (2) and Virender Sehwag (2) are the only other Indians with more than one hundred in the star-studded tournament.