Jos Buttler credits Shane Warne’s influence for Rajasthan Royals’ vital win vs Kings XI Punjab

Jos Buttler, who was the Man of the Match for his knock of 82, credited Shane Warne’s influence on the spin bowlers following Rajasthan Royals’ 15-run win over Kings XI Punjab that kept them alive in IPL 2018.

cricket Updated: May 09, 2018 09:17 IST

Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler pulls one to the boundary during the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) match against Kings XI Punjab at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday. (PTI)

Jos Buttler’s magnificent 82 off 58 balls was the key in Rajasthan Royals’ 15-run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Sawai Mansingh stadium on Tuesday which kept their play-off chances in the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) alive. However, the dashing England wicketkeeper batsman has credited team mentor Shane Warne’s influence on the spin bowlers for the victory.

The Rajasthan Royals spinners dismantled the Kings XI Punjab’s top order, laying the foundation tor the win.

Speaking in the post-match press conference, Buttler said, “Warne has been influential for the whole side. He’s obviously a very forward thinking and likes aggressive cricket, always taking the positive option. He is a big influence on the leg-spin bowlers. 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 legs-pinner Ish Sodhi (1/14). Buttler hailed the contribution 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 legspin bowling. 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.

Changing pitch

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 with 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 160-170 was going to be a very good score. All the pitches here have been quite similar,” Buttler said.

With this crucial win, Rajasthan Royals stay in the hunt for the play-offs but they will have to win their remaining four games and hope for other results going their way.

Ajinkya Rahane’s side takes on Chennai Super Kings on May 11.