England’s T20 World Cup 2022-winning captain Jos Buttler became the first-ever impact player to hit a century to help Rajasthan Royals (RR) pull off the joint-highest runchase in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. Buttler was not scoring freely and struggled to find boundaries in the middle overs. He unleashed a brutal onslaught in the slog overs and remained as calm as a cucumber to take RR to the 224-run target in a last-ball thriller. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Sunil Narine’s maiden T20 century went in vain as the host side failed to tighten the screws despite posting a big total.
Narine smashes century
Earlier, RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to field first. Avesh Khan struck early and dismissed Philip Salt with a brilliant catch on follow-through. Angrish Raghuvanshi targetted Trent Boult and hit three fours in an over. Narine hit the first six of the innings against Kuldeep Sen. KKR were 56/1 after powerplay overs. Narine and Raghuvanshi continued to dominate RR bowlers. Narine reached his half-century with a six off Ravichandran Ashwin in the 10th over. He took 30 deliveries to reach the fifty. Sen got the breakthrough by dismissing Raghuvanshi. He contributed with an 18-ball 30 cameo.
Narine continued to hit big. KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer tried to copy him and smashed Chahal for a six. However, he got out next ball, caught in the deep. In 16th over, Narine smashed Chahal for two sixes and as many fours. He reached his maiden IPL century from 49 balls. Avesh returned to dismiss Andre Russell. He scored 13 runs from 10 balls. Boult ended Narine's stay at the crease by knocking over the stump. Narine scored 109 runs from 56 balls including 13 fours and six sixes. In the penultimate over, Avesh conceded 16 runs. In the final over, Sen got rid of Venkatesh Iyer for a single-digit score. Rinku Singh's 9-ball 20 helped KKR post 223/6.
RR's ideal start
RR's run chase got off to a good start. Yashasvi Jaiswal hit Mitchell Starc for two fours in the first over. Jaiswal then smashed Vaibhav Arora for a six and a four but lost his wicket next ball. He contributed with a nine-ball 19. Samson could not make an impact and departed for an eight-ball 12 to Harshit Rana. Buttler and Riyan Parag targetted Arora as he went for 23 runs in the sixth over. After powerplay overs, RR were 76/2. Parag was in sublime touch hitting boundaries easily but Rana got rid of him with an off-cutter. He scored 34 runs from just 14 balls. Dhruv Jurel walked out to bat at no.5 but was dismissed lbw by Narine in the ninth over. Ashwin was sent ahead of RR's big-hitters. At the halfway stage, RR were 109/4.
Buttler goes berserk in slog overs
The Ashwin ploy didn't work and the required run rate went up. Varun Chakaravarthy got his wicket with a faster delivery. Ashwin scored just eight runs from 11 balls. Buttler in the 15th over reached his fifty from 36 balls. He hit Chakaravarthy for four fours in the over. Russell was expensive in his only over as Buttler and Rovman Powell hit him for one six each. In Narine's last over, Powell hit a four and two sixes. But Narine managed to dismiss Powell. He contributed with a 13-ball 26. Butter wanted to keep the strike to himself and it led to Boult's run out in the 18th over. Starc faltered and bowled five wides in the 18th over. RR needed 28 runs from final two overs. Buttler went after Rana and hit two sixes and a four in the 19-run over. In the final over, Buttler hit Chakaravarthy for a maximum first ball. After three dot balls, he got a couple of runs. On the last ball, he kept his cool and took a single to get his team over the line. This was his seventh IPL century.
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