GT vs RR: 'Sometimes, You Got To Swallow Your Ego' - Jos Buttler On His Scratchy Start

Jos Buttler broke into the 700-run club this season with a 56-ball 89 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1. It was nothing like a typical knock of Buttler however, who had attempted to get rolling from the beginning in the game with the wicket holding a smidgen and batting not being the simplest for a hitter who has had severely contrasting halves in IPL 2022.

He had his fair bit of luck with GT’s fielders neglecting to take the half-chances and he held tight, stuck around for his opportunity and afterwards started. In the wake of scoring 39 off 38 balls, he scored his last 50 runs in only 18 balls.

I Tried To Just Hang In There: Jos Buttler

“I was finding it tough to start with,” conceded Buttler.

“Then Sanju came in and was playing fantastically well from ball one, so tried to get him back on strike for a bit. He took a lot off me. It wasn’t my most fluent innings, but I tried to hang in tough and stay in there, get a bit at the end and ride my luck.

“What I tried to do is just hang in there. I know at some point I trust myself to get away. Today it came very late in the innings, sometimes you hope it comes early. But I was determined to hang in there. It was a big game for us and batting first I wanted to make sure we put a good score on the board.

Sometimes you just got to swallow your ego; if you’re finding it hard, you’re finding it hard. Not to try and force it too much. Don’t panic. I know the opposition will prefer me to panic and get out so I just try and hang in there, bide my time and pick a match-up when I get it.”

GT Pair David Miller And Hardik Pandya Thrash RR

Buttler’s knock took RR to 188 yet it wasn’t sufficient on the night as David Miller and Hardik Pandya shared a 106-run partnership for the fourth wicket off 61 balls to take GT to the final in their first IPL. Likewise adding to that was the way that RR’s strength – their spin twins – as seen all through the season went wicketless on the evening, with Ashwin yielding upwards of 40 runs, the most he has in an innings this season.

“Those two guys have been outstanding for us all season. We continue to back them. This is a tough place for bowlers – seam or spin. If you’re just a little bit off, it’s a very small ground with a very fast outfield. There’s lots of boundaries available on this particular ground.

We knew it’s always going to be a little bit tough and bowling second, there was a little bit of dew as well. It’s one of the reasons we were desperate to finish in the top two; we’re still alive in the tournament and still got a chance. We were disappointed today but we’ll dust that off. We’re still in the tournament.”

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