THE JOS MACHINE
Buttler slams ton as Royals cruise to 55-run win over SRH
New Delhi, May 2: Jos Buttler announced his return to form with belligerent maiden T20 hundred as Rajasthan Royals made a mincemeat of an out-of-sorts SunRisers Hyderabad, winning IPL encounter by a whopping
55-run margin.
Opening the innings, Buttler smashed a breathtaking 124 off 64 balls while Sanju Samson was effective in his 48 off 33 deliveries which powered Rajasthan to a commanding 220 for three.
Even a change in captaincy couldn’t bring in luck for SRH as they could manage only 165 for eight in their 20 overs.
Chris Morris (3/29) and Mustafizur Rahman
(3/20) did the bulk of the work with the ball while Kartik Tyagi (1/32) Rahul Twetia (1/45) picked a wicket apiece.
With the win, the Royals moved up to fifth spot while SRH continued to stay at the bottom, having won only one match all season.
Looking to register their second win of the season, SRH raced to 57 for no loss in the first six overs.
However, Bangladesh pacer Rahman struck right after the first strategic time out, getting rid of Manish Pandey (31). The dangerous Jonny Bairstow (30) and Vijay Shankar (8) soon followed. With the pressure mounting, skipper Kane Williamson (20) went for the big shot only to be caught at deep midwicket by Morris off Tyagi as wickets tumbled at regular intervals.
With 91 needed in the last five overs the lower and middle order struggled. In the end the, top heavy SRH did not have enough fire-power to pull off the mammoth chase.