‘Warne tips key for RR spinners’
JAIPUR: Jos Buttler’s 82 off 58 balls was the key in Rajasthan Royals’ 15-run win over Kings XI Punjab which kept their playoff chances alive on Tuesday. However, the England wicketkeeper has credited team mentor Shane Warne’s influence on the spinners who played a major part in dismantling KXIP top order.
“Warne has been influential for the whole side. He’s forward thinking and likes aggressive cricket, always taking the positive option. He is a big influence on the leg-spinners. Tactically, it’s fantastic speaking to him.”
Chasing 159, Kings XI Punjab floundered against Krishnappa Gowtham (2/12) who took the wickets of Chris Gayle (1) and Ravichandran Ashwin (0) in one over and legspinner Ish Sodhi (1/14). Buttler hailed the contributions of Sodhi, who built pressure in the middle overs.
“We had a fantastic start. We know early wickets in T20s are very crucial. The boys bowled fantastically well. Sodhi bowled a brilliant spell of leg-spin. I’m delighted for Ish to bowl with such fantastic control. He looked like he’ll take a wicket every ball. He put a lot of pressure on the opposition,” Buttler said.
Rajasthan Royals were given a great start by Buttler but towards the end, Kings XI Punjab pulled things back and restricted them to 158/8. Although Rajasthan Royals defended the total, Buttler admitted he was surprised regarding the nature of the pitch.
“After the first six overs I thought it was a 180-190 pitch. It sort of changed very quickly and started to slow up. I thought 160170 was going to be a very good score. All the pitches here have been quite similar,” Buttler said.
With this win, Royals stay in the hunt for the playoffs.