Rajasthan Royals’ star Jos Buttler on Friday equaled Virat Kohli for most centuries in a single edition of the Indian Premier League, as he slammed his fourth ton of the ongoing season during the Qualifier 2 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Buttler reached his century in merely 59 balls, as the Royals registered a dominant win against RCB to book a place in the final.
Buttler has been enjoying a stellar season in this year’s IPL, and will get a chance to go past Kohli to create an IPL record for most tons, as Royals set up a final clash with the Gujarat Titans on May 29.
Chasing a 158-run target, the Royals made a strong start, thanks to a brisk 61-run partnership between Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal in merely 5.1 overs. However, the Royals’ Orange Cap holder remained undeterred with the fall of Jaiswal and continued on his explosive game, bringing his half-century in merely 23 balls.
Buttler, then, forged a 42-run stand with Sanju Samson. Thanks to their quick start, the Royals remained comfortably ahead of their required run-rate for almost the entire innings. Buttler reached his century in the 18th over of the innings, as he took a single off the final ball from Glenn Maxwell. He finished the Royals’ run-chase with a six off the first ball of the 19th over, steering the side to a title clash.
Earlier, RCB posted 157 for 8 after being asked to bat.
Rajat Patidar top-scored for RCB with 58 while captain Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell chipped in with 25 and 24 respectively.
For RR, Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy took three wickets apiece while Trent Boult and Ravichandran Ashwin got one each.
Their opponents in the next game, Gujarat Titans had defeated the Royals in the Qualifier 1 by 7 wickets and the Samson-led side would be aiming for an improved performance against Hardik Pandya’s GT in the all-important title clash.
