Buttler powers Rajasthan to thrilling victory

JAIPUR: Jos Buttler powered the Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling fourwicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Match 43 of VIVO IPL 2018 on Friday night.

The Englishman opened the innings and single-handedly propelled his team’s run-chase of 177 after CSK had posted 176-4 batting first. The Royals needed 12 off the final over — bowled by Dwayne Bravo; Buttler collected a couple of braces, followed it with a big hit over midwicket and then collected another brace to complete the job. The Royals got past the finish line with one ball to spare.

RR’S run-chase played out to a familiar script; Jos Buttler held his end and made his fourth consecutive half-century, while there was very little else from the other end. Buttler dominated the powerplay period and helped RR to 57-2 by the time the field restrictions were relaxed, after which the innings lost momentum. RR needed the set-batsman to bat on to the end, and the opener did that, finishing unbeaten on 95 from 60 balls. Sanju Samson (21 from 22 balls) and Stuart Binny (22 from 17 balls) made useful contributions in the middle, while K Gowtham’s cameo at the end — 13 from 4 balls — ensured the runs required were within Buttler’s reach in the final over.

Earlier in the evening, Chennai Super Kings were powered to 176 by Suresh Raina’s 35-ball 52 and contributions by the rest of the batsmen who got a hit in the middle. Shane Watson made 39 at the top of the innings, while MS Dhoni made an unbeaten 33 from 23 balls. Sam Billings, on his return to the CSK XI, contributed 27 from 22 balls. CSK got off to a blazing start, reaching 55-1 at the end of six overs, added 72 runs in the middle nine overs, and added a further 49 runs in the final five overs. The second wicket partnership of 86 runs between Suresh Raina and Shane Watson would be the biggest of the innings. After they were dismissed in quick succession, Billings and Dhoni added 55 runs for the fourth wicket.