BENGALURU: How have Rajasthan Royals been one of the best teams in the 15th edition of the IPL? Sample this: 193/8, 210/6, 165/6, 169/3, 217/5 and 155/9 in their six matches. The answer lies in their batting. In all these, it is Jos Buttler, who has been a common factor, scoring runs with ridiculous ease. Such has been his dominance over the course of the season, one can even draw a comparison with the Virat Kohli of IPL 2016, where the Indian amassed 973 runs with four centuries.
After Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss, he decided to bowl first against Rajasthan at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. Was that a good call? He might have been prompted to do so with the dew expected in the second half of the game. But that meant allowing Buttler a first taste of the 22-yard Mumbai highway and he was never going to miss out on the golden opportunity.
Coming into the game with 385 runs under his belt, one knew about his confidence level. He was not middling the ball well initially. The first two fours of his bat flew off the edge and one wondered if it might not be his day. In fact, the Englishman was striking below 100 in the first five overs as his 11 off 14 suggested. However, if you watch his innings closely this season, he comes with a clear cut plan, and unleashes his big shots especially after getting his eye in.
The same transpired on Friday as Buttler scored his third hundred of the season to power his team to 222/2 in 20 overs. Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson also played their role of support cast to perfection, scoring 54 (35) and 46 (19) respectively.
With the ball sailing into the crowds regularly, the Delhi players’ faces during Buttler’s stay said it all. Prithvi Shaw had his hands on his chin as the ball flew all around the park. At one point, Pant also had a cheeky smile behind the wicket as if to say ‘how can you treat my bowlers like this?’ Soon, David Warner also began to pass on his experience to Pant in the middle. Chasing the huge target, Delhi could manage only 207/8 on the board.
Brief scores: RR 222/2 in 20 ovs (Buttler 116, Padikkal 54) bt DC 207/8 in 20 ovs(Pant 44, Krishna 3/22, Ashwin 2/32).
Today’s Match
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