Buttler serves up a magical ton
RR opener smashes a brilliant 106* to guide his team into the final, where they will face Gujarat Titans
Sanjjeev K Samyal
AHMEDABAD: Continuing his dream run, Jos Buttler smashed his fourth hundred of the Indian Premier League season to power Rajasthan Royals into the final of the Indian Premier League.
After the RR bowlers had done well to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to 157 for eight in 20 overs, the Orange Cap holder made a mockery of the chase with an unbeaten 106 off 60 balls (10 fours, six sixes). Playing in front of a crowd of close to one lakh at the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Motera, Buttler’s heroics helped Royals to complete a seven-wicket win and set up a title clash with Gujarat Titans, on Sunday. It will be their first final since 2008, when they won the inaugural edition.
The RR opener started from where he left off in the last game against Titans where he scored 89 and went on to emulate Virat Kohli’s 2016 feat of four centuries in an IPL season.
Buttler stole everyone’s thunder but credit for the win should also go to pacers Prasidh Krishna and Obed Mccoy, who both picked three wickets each. It is never easy to be ready for a big, knock-out game, after you have been hit for three sixes of the last three balls of the previous match. However, Prasidh proved he is made of sterner stuff. Putting behind the lastover mauling at the hands of Gujarat Titans’ David Miller, he produced an inspired performance on Friday night.
Prasidh set the tone for the
all-important game with the wicket of Virat Kohli. The India legend started with a six off Trent Boult before Prasidh induced an edge with a sharp, short of a length delivery which moved a shade after pitching. It was the perfect match-up for Royals.
In their last game at Pune, Prasidh had got Kohli with a bouncer. After bowling three overs on the trot with the new ball, Prasidh came back for the 19th over to pick up two wickets in two balls. He first got dangerman Dinesh Karthik caught in the deep going for a lofted shot and then cleaned up Wanindu
Hasaranga with stunning yorker. Prasidh got solid support from left-arm pacer Obed Mccoy, who also gave nothing away and picked up three wickets, to ensure the RCB innings never picked up pace.
On resumption, the Royals openers, Buttler and Jaiswal, came out all guns blazing. They pushed RCB immediately on the backfoot by targeting Mohammed Siraj to plunder 37 runs in the first three overs.
Seeing the helplessness of his pacers, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis introduced spin after three overs itself in the form of Glenn Maxwell and Shahbaz
Ahmed. But it was to no avail. The openers continued to attack. Buttler powered Royals to 61 for no loss in five overs. It ensured that run-rate would not be an issue from there on.
Patidar shines
Royals’ complete domination with the bat overshadowed Rajat Patidar’s knock of 58 (42 balls). It was an important innings from the RCB point of view. None of their big names were able to build on their starts. Kohli was out after hitting a six, Skipper Faf du Plessis made a sluggish 25 off 27 balls. Glenn Maxwell also flattered to deceive, racing to 24 off 13 balls before holding out to deep square leg. Reduced to 111 for three in 14 overs, their hopes of a good total depended on a strong finish. But RCB were not able to get the kind of finishing kick that they were looking for. The last four overs produced only 25 runs.
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