Rajasthan Royals (RR) had the last laugh in the battle of former champions as they eked out a three-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk stadium which saw a cracker of an Indian Premier League (IPL) contest on Wednesday (April 12).
RR posted a 176-run target riding on Jos Buttler's blistering knock of 52 off 36. In reply, CSK ran out of steam just before the finishing line and were restricted to 172/6 despite MS Dhoni's vintage show. Meanwhile, India's spin legend Harbhajan Singh was effusive in praising the Orange Cap winner of IPL 2022, Buttler, for his exceptional batting on a spin-friendly track. Harbhajan went on term the English star batter 'the no.1 batter in the world'.
Harbhajan said that the 32-year-old uses the crease to perfection during a Star Sports' Cricket Live Show after the RR's match against RR.
"I fell short of words to praise Jos Buttler. He is a proper batter of the cricket ball. He uses the crease to perfection, possesses good technique, and he has good footwork against pace and spin. For me, he's the No. 1 batter in world cricket at the moment," Harbhajan said.
The Men in Purple have played a total of four matches in which Buttler has struck three fifties already. He is also hot on heels with Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Delhi Capitals captain David Warner in the Orange Cap race as the star RR opener has already notched up 204 runs with a strike rate of 170 and a stunning average of 51.
During his 52-run knock against the Yellow Army, Buttler also reached the milestone of 3000 IPL runs. Playing his 85th match in the cash-rich league, Buttler became the third fastest to the feat behind KL Rahul (80 innings) and Chris Gayle (75 innings).
After their third win in four matches, the Royals jumped to the top spot in the standings on a better net run rate, tying the Lucknow Super Giants on six points each.
ALSO READ:
Watch | 'From North a guy came...: Salman Khan reveals his favourite cricketer and he's not Virat Kohli
R Ashwin fined 25 per cent of match fee for breaching IPL code of conduct after 'Player of the match' show vs CSK
