India A vs South Africa A: Sanju Samson donates his entire match fees of INR 1.5 lakhs to groundsmen

The Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram was witness to one of the most brutal innings in a List A game, as Sanju Samson smashed 91 runs in just 48 balls, studded with seven sixes and six fours in India A’s big win over South Africa A in the fifth and final match of the unofficial ODI series.

The Greenfield stadium suffered from a heavy downpour of rains in last few days and none of the five matches being full 50 overs affairs. However, the groundsmen of the stadium worked extremely hard to not let the players and crowd go home disappointed and prepared the ground to have some play possible in all the five matches. Their efforts were recognized by the Kerala batsman in a very heart touching gesture.

Samson donates his entire match fees to ground staff of the stadium

Sanju Samson was named the Man of the Match as India A wrapped up series 4-1 with a 36-run win in the final ODI and followed it up with a gesture of donating all of his match fees tuning to 1.5 lakhs INR to the ground staff of the stadium, thanking them for preparing the square for the matches despite the rains.

“The match fee for one game is 75,000, and Samson has contributed Rs 1.5 lakh (he featured in two one-dayers) to the men who toiled throughout this series to ensure that no washouts happened,” a ground official was quoted as saying by New Indian Express.

“We have to give credit to the groundsmen. Because of them, we were able to play. If there was some wetness here or there, then the match officials would not have allowed matches to happen. We really have to thank them. So I have decided to give my match fees to the groundsmen,” Samson, who hails from Kerala and is a local boy, was quoted as saying.

The 5th unofficial ODI was reduced to 20 overs for each team. India batted first and put up 204/4 with Samson making 91, his highest List A score and Dhawan making 51 and adding 135 runs. In reply, South Africa A could only manage 168 with Reeza Hendricks making 59 and Shardul Thakur picking up 3/9 in his 3 overs.