England rode on the back of a 26-ball Ben Duckett half-century to post a formidable powerplay score of 52/1 with the opener gunnning along beautifully in conjunction with skipper Jos Buttler. With the Rajkot deck offering little assistance to spinner or pacer, a 200-plus target seemed to be the minimum expectation for England as the partnership grew to 76 off 45 balls. However, it took a moment of genius followed by the conviction of a leader from Sanju Samson to flip the game on its head and rein momentum back towards the host.
On the final ball of the ninth over, Varun Chakravarthy darted in a forward of a length seam-up delivery around fourth stump to the in-form Buttler, who had been kept relatively quiet at 24 off 21 deliveries up until the point. Looking to break the shackles, the captain shaped up for a huge reverse sweep but was deceived by the pace as the Kookaburra darted past him. However, Samson was ready with the gloves and somehow moved his hands just in time to safely net it within his gloves before going up in a wide appeal. The umpire said a firm no and with little interest from his teammates apart from the cursory curiosity of the bowler himself, Samson had an uphill task at hand. Yet, being a much more experienced T20 skipper than SKY given his experience with Kerala and Rajasthan Royals , the wicket-keeper managed to reel in the skipper with his words who went up reluctantly with a sheepish smile when just three seconds remained on the timer. As it turned out, there was a big deflection off Buttler’s gloves, making the take by Sanju look even more exceptional in slow motion.
As the saying goes, one wicket brings two and Duckett fell just six deliveries later, with Twitterati quick to credit Sanju for the twin breakthroughs.
What a catch!
What a review!
— jithesh (@jithesh1569353) January 28, 2025
Brilliant catch by Sanju Samson followed by fantastic review 👏#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/IV6VOvRqrb
— Utsav 💙 (@utsav__45) January 28, 2025
Yeah that was!
GReat one that is!!
Brilliant DRS from Sanju Samson to get the wicket of Jos Buttler 🙌 pic.twitter.com/HM3dzPvH2V
— कट्टर INDIA समर्थक 🦁🇮🇳 ™ (@KKRWeRule) January 28, 2025
Varun Chakravarthy gets big fish Jos Buttler.
Terrific catch from Sanju Samson #VarunChakaravathy #SanjuSamson #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/CXNqFZbZuC— Ganesh 🇮🇳 (@GaneshVerse) January 28, 2025
Hahaha! Yeah may be!
Best WK batsman Sanju Samson
Cry more 😭😭🤣— Tsunami😈 (@Taskking123) January 28, 2025
That was one to be taken!
Excellent review from Sanju Samson for that Jos Buttler wicket !!#INDvsENG #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/C51zJMMzCJ
— Cricketism (@MidnightMusinng) January 28, 2025
Surya was not willing to take a review but Sanju samson’s confidence sent Buttler back to the pavelian. pic.twitter.com/y9nkEGcyIh
— Registanroyals (@registanroyals) January 28, 2025
Looks easy but very difficult!
Yeah!
Varun Chakravarti and Surya Kumar ko nahi lag raha tha ki Jos Buttler out hai.
Lekin Sanju Samson ne Review lene ke liye kaha and jos Buttler out
Keeper Sanju Samson commentators bhi Sanju Samson ki taareef kar rahe hai. pic.twitter.com/utSLOH4aE2— Dhruv Thakur (@Dhruv_rajawat11) January 28, 2025
