'He has Yuvraj Singh's potential of hitting six sixes' - Dale Steyn lauds Sanju Samson after Lucknow ODI

While Rohit Sharma-led India's T20 World Cup team left for Australia, Shikhar Dhawan's second-stringODI side faced South Africa in the three-match ODI series opener on Thursday (October 7) in Lucknow. In a rain-curtailed ODI, Temba Bavuma's SA were asked to bat first. Quinton de Kock managed a promising 54-ball 48 but the Proteas were reduced to 110/4 before unbeaten fifties from Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller saw them post a competitive 249/4 in the 40-over contest.

In reply, India were on the back foot and reduced to 51-4 before a 37-ball 50 from Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson's unbeaten 86 took India close to the total, managing 240 for 8, losingby nine runs. After the clash, former South African speedster Dale Steyn admitted being nervous when Kagiso Rabada bowled a no-ball on the final ball of the penultimate over as he was aware of Samson's exploits.

"As soon as KG (Kagiso Rabada) bowled that no-ball in the last ball of his over, I was like, 'please don't let this happen'. Because you never know with someone like Sanju, especially with the form that he has got and the belief that he has. I watched him in the IPL, his ability to take down the bowlers and hit boundaries at will, especially in the last two overs of the game, is incredible," Steyn said in the post-match discussion on Star Sports.

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"Shamsi was going to bowl the last over and he (Samson) knew he (Shamsi) had a rough day. I was nervous when KG (Rabada) bowled the no ball. Because Sanju is the kind of guy who has the potential of Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), to hit those six sixes and get the team across the line when it needs 30+," Styen said.

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Eventually, India needed a mammoth 30 runs off the last six deliveries of the match after Rabada conceded only seven runs in the 39th over. Samson went big, taking on Tabraiz Shamsi who ended with match figures of 8-0-89-1, and smacked 6,4,4,4 but Dhawan & Co. fell short by nine runs.

At the post-match presentation, Dhawan said, "Quite proud of the way the boys played the game, we didn't get a good start, the way Shreyas, Samson and Shardul batted was excellent. We gave away too many runs on a wicket that swung and spun, the fielding wasn't great, but this was a good learning experience for us."