Rajasthan Royals (RR) Jos Buttler became the first batter to score a century in the 15th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on April 2 at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai against Mumbai Indians (MI). Buttler became the 16th batter to hit two or more centuries in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL). The RR opener is the second English batter after Ben Stokes to hit two centuries in IPL.
The wicketkeeper-batter got to his century from in the penultimate over of the innings from 66 deliveries. It is also the second-slowest century in the league’s history.
He led the Royals from the front and helped them post 48 runs in the powerplay overs despite single-digit scores from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal. He got to his half-century with a boundary off Daniel Sams in the eighth bowler. He took 32 deliveries to reach his fifty.
In the middle overs, he had support from skipper Sanju Samson who scored 30 off 21 deliveries including one four and three sixes. The two shared an 82-run partnership for the third wicket. In the death overs, he had support from Shimron Hetmyer who contributed with a 35-run cameo off just 14 deliveries. Buttler got bowled in the penultimate over of the innings. He scored 100 runs off 68 deliveries. His century was studded with 11 fours and five sixes.
Buttler also achieved another unique strike rate record on April 2. He has the highest strike rate in powerplay overs (minimum 500 balls faced)
148.24 - Jos Buttler
146.61 - Prithvi Shaw
144.26 - Chris Lynn
144.16 - Virender Sehwag
136.07 - David Warner
Buttler's first IPL century came in the first phase of previous season. He scored 124 against Sunrisers Hyderabad from 64 deliveries. Royals' chances of reaching the playoffs took a major hit when he pulled out of the second phase of the tournament which was played later in United Arab Emirates (UAE). As a result, the winners of inaugural IPL season finished seventh on the IPL 2021 points table.
In the previous game, Buttler contributed 35 runs from 28 deliveries to the 210-run total against SRH. Royals ended up winning the game by a big margin of 61 runs.
