Jos Buttler smashed a century off 68 deliveries to guide Rajasthan Royals to a challenging total.
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The 9th match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2022 saw a run flow at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai. Opener Jos Buttler smashed a blitzkrieg ton and a stunning cameo from Shimron Hetmyer (35) helped them put up a total of 193 runs as well.
Put into bat, Rajasthan Royals got off to a shaky start with Devdutt Padikkal got out within the powerplay. However, captain Sanju Samson steadied the ship with 88 runs alongside Buttler. While the latter took the charge, the former played a second fiddle and they took on every bowler in the process. Meanwhile, after his dismissal, Shimron Hetmyer steadied the ship with a 14-ball 35 with 3 boundaries and as many sixes.
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However, Jos Buttler reached his first fifty in 32 balls. He reached the feat with a four. It was short of a length around off and he tried to force it off the back foot but got an outside edge that went on the fence as well. On the other hand, he took 34 balls to reach the hundred which is his second IPL hundred in his 300th T20 game as well.
Bumrah bowled a low full toss and Buttler hit and got an inside edge onto the pad. Bumrah missed the edge and he also appealed for LBW. The ball went to mid-wicket and he took a single. Even, the replay showed he was not out.
However, that didn’t go long as Bumrah had the last laugh as he removed Hetmyer in the very next ball. Jos Buttler, who scored a stunning century, couldn’t contribute much as Bumrah bowled him, finishing his spell with 3/17. But, Rajasthan Royals managed to post a decent competitive total as well.
After the stunning knock, Buttler, who is wearing the Orange Cap now, said: “Thanks very much. Bit of a color clash (Orange and Pink). Obviously a great feeling and nice to contribute. I’m a bit nervous as it is hard to tell if it is a good score or not with the short boundary one side. Mumbai always attack me with Bumrah, he’s one of the best bowlers in the world and I find him hard to attack, that (Thampi) over the leg-side boundary was short and I decided to target that.”
“I did know (about the inside edge), but you’re never sure so just wanted to wait and see. I got frustrated towards the end as I slowed down, I couldn’t get the ball away as I would have liked and that’s why I feel we could have got a few more. But we would have taken 194 at the start. They came back strong like they always do, Bumrah is the best at the death and Mills too. Hetmyer played a fantastic hand, coming in and scoring freely. We need to have the ball in the right area to pick early wickets,” Jos Buttler concluded.
