Jos Buttler idol worships Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni after beating Gautam Gambhir's KKR
Published - 17 Apr 2024, 10:44 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:10 AM
It seems as if Rajasthan Royals are serious Indian Premier League 2024 title contenders. The way they performed last night in match number 31 against second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders, was well and truly exceptional as they chased down a target of 224 runs within 20 overs.
The main man behind it was none other than Rajasthan's very own Jos Buttler aka "Jos Bhai". He played out a sensational MOTM-winning knock and after getting his team over the line, Buttler said he took inspiration from Dhoni and Kohli.
"We have seen Kohli & Dhoni staying till the end and finishing the matches - I just applied the same today." - Jos Buttler said after the match.
After winning the toss, Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson had elected to bowl first but the visitors did not have the best of starts. England wicket-keeper batsman Phil Salt had a bad day in the office as he departed after scoring just 10 runs off 13 balls but his partner Sunil Narine stuck on.
The West Indian had put together a partnership of 85 runs with young number 3 batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi who smashed 30 off 18 at a strike rate of 166.
Sunil Narine landed the first blow
Before Jos Buttler scored a century of his own, Sunil Narine led from the front for KKR in the 1st innings and smacked a very important 109 off 56 balls at a strike rate of 194.64.
Before getting out in the 18th over, Narine had made effective partnerships with Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell. By the time Narine departed, KKR had scored 195 runs whereas Rinku Singh, who arrived to bat at number 6, contributed 20 off 9 balls.
Jos Buttler steals the show
In response to Knight Riders' target of 224, Jos Buttler arrived at the crease with Yashasvi Jaiswal and they started very well but Jaiswal's struggle with form continued as he left the crease for 19 off 9 in the 5th ball of the 2nd over.
While the run rate was up there, wickets kept falling at regular intervals for Rajasthan. Sanju Samson came into the crease and left after scoring 12 at a strike rate of 150.
Then the man in form Riyan Parag, after scoring a quick 34 off 14, wasn't able to hold on to his wicket in front of Harshit Rana before the spinners were introduced in the middle.
Dhruv Jurel, who came in next, got LBW off Sunil Narine, and the former was replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin, who too, could not provide much of an impact and was sent back by Varun Chakravarthy for 8.
Chakravarthy got on a hat-trick in the very next ball as he led to the soft dismissal of the dangerous Shimron Hetmeyer at the right time. As KKR kept on taking wickets regularly, they might have forgotten that Jos Buttler was still there on the other end.
Then Englishman kept the scoreboard ticking and played according to the required run rate. A bit of credit should also go to lower-middle order batsman Rovman Powell, who struck 26 off 13 at a 200-strike rate.
But towards the end, it was Jos Buttler, who scored his 7th century in IPL history and most importantly scored the winning runs of the match to help RR take another step closer to the play-offs. With that performance, Rajasthan are looking like they are on course to claim their 2nd IPL title and end their wait at last.
