Former champions Rajasthan Royals were 178/7 at the end of the 17th over chasing Kolkata Knight Riders’ improbable target of 224 in the first and second clash of the Indian Premier League season 2024 on Tuesday. What was the equation? Sanju Samson needed 46 runs off the final 16 balls. Despite the sky-high asking price, Knight Riders never considered themselves overwhelming favorites at the Eden Gardens. Why? Because Jos Buttler scored 67 runs in 47 balls while batting.
first KKR vs RR is the class In the happy city, Butler won his war against Virat Kohli Bharjari set the chase against Rajasthan by smashing a century Royal Challengers Bangalore. He overshadowed Kohli with his unbeaten century in Jaipur. The England captain missed the next match against PBKS as a doubt. He was struggling with it on Tuesday but thanks to the impact player rule, RR kept him off the field and decided to only use him as a batsman against KKR.
With a pinch-hitter Sunil Narine Notching his maiden T20 century and another monstrous total at home to KKR, RR fans expected the returning Buttler to repeat his batting feat against KKR at the Eden Gardens. Let’s guess? Buttler did as the Englishman smashed another century in the cash-rich league.
RR’s go-to batter never lost confidence in Rajasthan’s record-breaking run chase against the two-time champions. Interestingly, Butler took cues from the all-time greats MS Dhoni And Kohli to rescue his team from a precarious position. In a conversation with former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar at the post-match presentation, Buttler admitted that he struggled for rhythm during the run-chase. However, Buttler dismissed Dhoni and Kohli to seal a famous win for Rajasthan Royals.
‘Guys like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli…’
“Keep believing, that was the real key today. I was struggling a bit for rhythm. Sometimes you get frustrated or you question yourself. I say it’s okay, keep going, you get your rhythm back and try to stay. Been around the IPL enough times, you’ve seen crazy things happen like Dhoni and Kohli. , he believes till the end and I tried to do the same.
Butler who broke Kohli’s record
Just like Kohli, Narine did everything to help his team post competitive totals. Narine scored 109 off 56 balls against RR. Jose, who scored a century in the run chase, tormented the KKR bowlers by scoring 107 runs off 60 balls. With a strike rate of over 178, Buttler has also broken Kohli’s record in the IPL. Buttler now has the most centuries in the run chase in the IPL. The RR star surpassed Kohli’s tally (2) with his third century.
‘Sangakkara tells me…’
Batting icon Kohli and England all-rounder Ben Stokes have scored two centuries for their respective IPL teams. Buttler has overtaken Chris Gayle in the list of batsmen who have scored most centuries in IPL. The RR opener is one century away from equaling Kohli’s record of 8 centuries in the IPL. “That’s something Sangakkara has told me a lot – there’s always a breaking point. The worst thing you can do is not fight and give your wicket away. He (Sangakkara) tells me to hang in there and at some point, the momentum changes. That’s been a big part of my game over the last few years,” Butler added.