New Delhi: Jos Buttler roars back to form with a breathtaking first T20 century with eight sixes, raising Rajasthan Royals to a 220 for 3 order against SunRisers Hyderabad in an IPL match on Sunday.
Buttler (124 off 64 balls) and captain Sanju Samson, who smashed 48 off 33 balls, struck a 150-run partnership around the second wicket after opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) lost cheaply.
While the Englishman hit the ball with 11 fours, apart from eight maximums, Samson also has four fours and two sixes to his credit.
For SRH, Rashid Khan (1/24), Vijay Shankar (1/42) and Sandeep Sharma (1/50) each picked a wicket.
Hit in the bat, the Royals started a calm when they could only score five runs from the first two overs.
The newly appointed SRH captain, Kane Williamson, who was looking for wickets early in the innings, introduced the turn in the third over by bringing in star bowler Rashid.
Jaiswal crushed three fours before the Afghan showed his class and trapped the young leg before.
RR captain Samson, who was dropped at 23 by Manish Pandey in the 10th over, announced his arrival with a six over the middle wicket, Khaleel Ahmed.
On the other hand, Buttler, who looked in sublime touch, also beat Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two boundaries in the sixth over when the Royals collected 42 runs for the loss of one wicket in the Powerplay.
The duo continued to hit boundaries at regular intervals at the small Feroz Shah Kotla site, collecting 18 runs, which included two sixes, from the versatile Vijay Shankar in the seventh over.
Buttler and Samson successfully followed up Rashid’s four overs in the 13th over, and they plundered 17 runs. The Englishman muscled a six-over-wide pair of trousers before lifting one over outer cover for a border.
While all bowlers were licking runs, Williamson turned to Mohammad Nabi, who is playing his second game of the season, but Buttler hammered the spinner for two sixes and as many fours.
Vijay Shankar managed to get rid of Samson in the 17th over with the young Riyan Parag stepping in.
There was no stopping Buttler, who was in full control, from holding borders at will. Sandeep Sharma, finally brought his innings to the end of the penultimate over.
Source: Telangana Today