Indian Premier League 2021
IPL 2021: RR vs DC: Play of the Day – Sanju 'Superman' Samson
The RR skipper took an absolute belter of a catch to dismiss DCs Shikhar Dhawan.
Delhi Capitals had marshalled their way to a win in their IPL 2021 season opener against Chennai Super Kings.
That win arrived on the back of an absolutely humongous performance from DC's two openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan.
Rajasthan Royals bowlers, meanwhile, had to watch their deliveries get smashed to every corner of the park by KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda in their opening fixture against Punjab Kings.
Sanju Samson almost took them over the line in that jaw-dropping match, but in the end, they had to settle for a heartbreaking loss.
Opting to bowl first, RR knew all too well the consequences of letting DC's openers get a stranglehold on the game within the Powerplay.
Thanks to a peach of a delivery from Jaydev Unadkat, Prithvi Shaw completely fumbled the shot and was caught inside the circle.
Shikhar Dhawan, fresh from his exploits against CSK where he scored 85 runs from 54 deliveries and won the Player of the Match award, started getting into the groove.
Jaydev Unadkat returned once again with the ball in hand, raring to have another go at Dhawan.
In the first match against CSK, Dhawan quite often shifted to his left to match the line of the pacers and swept shots to the unprotected boundary covers. He also scooped a few over the wicket-keeper's head in that match which raced away to the ropes.
Shikhar Dhawan tried to adopt a similar approach in the match-up against Unadkat who had already sent Prithvi Shaw back to the pavilion.
Dhawan shuffled across to his left and tried to ramp up Unadkat's good length ball.
However, Unadkat smartly took the pace off that delivery so when Dhawan tried to open the face of his bat, he failed to generate enough power on it.
It was still angled pretty tightly and the lack of a leg gully and a fine leg meant that Dhawan would get away with it.
Not under Sanju Samson's watch, it won't.
Sanju Samson to the rescue
The ball drifting high and wide to the right of Samson kept on rising and rising higher.
At that precise moment, acting on reflex and instinct, Samson with a spring in his steps took flight.
A moment later, which probably felt like an eternity to the helpless Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson had the ball in his gloves and his teammates ran towards him in ecstasy and joy.
Even Unadkat couldn't believe how his captain took that catch, but he was so glad he did.
As was the rest of the Rajasthan Royals squad who were up from their seats in the dugout and cheering.
Samson's catch which led to Dhawan's dismissal gave Rajasthan Royals a perfect start during the Powerplay and the Delhi Capitals batting order ended up suffering an inevitable collapse.
