Samson paints Wankhede yellow while carrying CSK on his back  

 

  

 Sanju Samson had the crowd on its feet. They were banging the seats, they were screaming their lungs out, they had found their new hero.  

 That was how the Chepauk crowd found its voice again just over 10 days ago when Samson smashed his maiden IPL century in his new yellow jersey. 

 

On Thursday evening, he stood more than 1000 kilometers away from his new home ground, in the humid cauldron of Wankhede Stadium, home to his new team's arch-rivals.

 But if you shut your eyes as boundaries reeled off Samson's blade, you wouldn't have known the difference: there were deafening chants of "CSK, CSK," the booming support for them got louder and louder soon after Samson got going with an effortless-looking flick for six early on, and the liberal spread of yellow gave the sea of blue at Wankhede a proper run for money.

 

 This was the same pitch where 220 matched 224 when Mumbai Indians (MI) hosted KKR earlier this season, but it was a night that threw many more challenges for Samson than when he finished unbeaten on 115 against Delhi Capitals