Jos Buttler's maiden IPL ton and his partnership of 150 with Sanju Samson as well as a disciplined bowling performance gave Rajasthan Royals a big win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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Jos Butter became the third player in IPL 2021 to hit a century to boost Rajasthan Royals. His 124, the highest of this edition, and his 150-run stand with skipper Sanju Samson, helped Rajasthan Royals to 220/3. Thoroughly deflated by the late overs assault that saw them leak 95 runs in six overs, Sunrisers Hyderabad put up a timid display. Rajasthan Royals’ bowlers bowled with discipline to register a big 55-run win. The win boosts their NRR and keeps their IPL 2021 playoff hopes on track. For Sunrisers Hyderabad, their sixth loss in seven games means they will have to win all their games to stay alive.
Chasing 221, the chase depended on the aggression of Jonny Bairstow. Opening with Manish Pandey, Bairstow hammered two fours and a six off Chetan Sakariya. Pandey followed with two sixes off Kartik Tyagi. Pandey showed his aggression by smashing two fours off Chris Morris as Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 57 in the powerplay.
However, after the first break, Rajasthan Royals seized the moment. Mustafizur Rahman used the cutter to send back Pandey while Rahul Tewatia struck a body blow when he dismissed Bairstow. Sunrisers Hyderabad lost momentum and they struggled. Morris sent back Vijay Shankar while Tyagi responded with the big wicket of Williamson. Nabi and Abdul Samad struck some blows to delay the inevitable. But, Morris took two wickets in the 17th over to seal the game.
Even before the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad was distracted by the news of David Warner’s sacking as captain and also being dropped for the game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back after injury while Mohammad Nabi was surprisingly the fourth overseas player. Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bowl and new skipper Kane Williamson sprung a surprise. Rashid Khan, who hardly bowls in the powerplay, came onto the attack in the third over.
Rashid immediately got the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal. That was the only success that they had as Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson put on a brilliant show
Samson got going with a six off Khaleel Ahmed. Buttler played out Rashid as Rajasthan Royals reached 42/1 in the powerplay.
In the first over after the powerplay, Buttler and Samson hit a six each of Vijay Shankar as the bowler leaked 18 runs. Samson brought up the 50-run stand with a four off Khaleel through cover. The Rajasthan Royals skipper benefited from a dropped catch by Manish Pandey off Sandeep Sharma as the partnership grew.
Rashid bowled his spell in the 11th over to end with good figures of 1/24 from four overs. Having neutralized Sunrisers’ key bowler, both batsmen opened up. Buttler notched up his 12th IPL fifty by hammering Sandeep Sharma over long off and followed it up with a tennis forehand smash through extra cover.
Samson notched up the 100-run stand by edging Khaleel to the third man fence. But, Buttler dealt in sixes. The 15th over bowled by Mohammad Nabi changed the entire equation. Buttler hit two fours and two sixes as 21 runs came in the over. Samson and Buttler each hit a four off Bhuvneshwar as Rajasthan Royals eyed a score near 200.
An outside edge and a crunched drive took Buttler to 99 but in the 17th over, Shankar got the wicket of Samson for 48 with Abdul Samad taking a good catch.
Buttler joined his skipper and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Devdutt Padikkal as the other players to have hit a century in this edition of the IPL. Buttler, though, registered the highest individual score by a batsman in IPL 2021, beating the 119 set by Samson against Punjab Kings. He also joined Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow as the other England players to have reached a century in the IPL.
Riyan Parag got a promotion and he started with a big six off Bhuvneshwar. Buttler continued on his merry ways as he pounded three sixes and a four in one over of Sandeep. However, Sandeep had the last laugh as Buttler was bowled for 124. David Miller hit a six to finish the innings in style.
In the end, Buttler and Samson’s partnership in addition to the 95 runs in the final six overs proved to be costly for Sunrisers Hyderabad. With this loss, they are closer to becoming the first team to be officially eliminated from the playoff race.
