Jaipur, April 6: Opener Jos Buttler announced his return to form in his 100th IPL match with a magnificent 58-ball century as he outshined Virat Kohli’s ton to help Rajasthan Royals make it four wins from four matches at Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 after beating Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.

After Kohli brought out his vintage self to score his eighth IPL century and ninth overall in T20 cricket via 113 not out off 72 balls to propel RCB to a competitive 183/3, Buttler weathered the early storm and then brought out the attacking play to perfection to hit exactly 100 runs off 58 balls, laced with nine fours and four sixes.

Through his brilliant knock, Buttler has also become only the second batter to score a 100 in his 100th IPL match, after K.L. Rahul. On a pitch where stroke play got better as the game progressed, Buttler was also well-supported by captain Sanju Samson making 69 off 42 balls as RR completed the chase with five balls to spare and was now on top of the points table.

It was the same old story for RCB, who lacked penetration with the ball and barring Reece Topley, others failed to put up a performance of note for the visitors. RR didn’t have an ideal start to the chase of 184 as Yashasvi Jaiswal pulled a short ball from Reece Topley to mid-off, falling for a two-ball duck.

Samson got going with three boundaries, before Buttler scooped a four over Dinesh Karthik’s head, followed by surviving a tough chance and a run-out attempt in the fourth over bowled by Mohammed Siraj. Buttler followed it up by hitting two off-side boundaries off Yash Dayal and proceeded to smack left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar for three fours and a six in an 18-run over as RR made 54/1 in six overs at the end of power-play.

Samson pulled leg-spinner Himanshu Sharma twice for fours, one of which Kohli couldn’t catch at mid-wicket. Buttler drove one on the up off Cameron Green, before reaching his fifty in 30 balls. Samson wowed everyone with an upper cut six off Siraj, before hitting two fours and a maximum off Dagar to reach his second fifty of the season in 33 balls.

Whenever RCB’s spinners missed their lengths, along with dew coming into play, Buttler and Samson were quick to dispatch it for boundaries. Buttler was impeccable with his timing – seen from him flat-batting a slower short ball from Dayal over leaping long-off and then using the width from Topley to steer using his wrists for piercing the gap between backward point and deep cover point.

The 148-run partnership ended when Samson couldn’t time the pull well off Siraj and was caught at deep backward square-leg. Though Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel fell in quick succession, Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer knocked off the remaining runs, with the former swiveling a six to the left of deep square leg to get his century and give RR a thrilling win in front of its faithful home fans.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 183/3 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 113 not out, Faf du Plessis 44; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-34, Nandre Burger 1-33) lost to Rajasthan Royals 189/4 in 19.1 overs (Jos Buttler 100 not out, Sanju Samson 69; Reece Topley 2-27, Mohammed Siraj 1-35) by six wickets

(IANS)

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