Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler was in the form of his life on Sunday when the English opener slammed a 64-ball 124 to impose a mammoth 220 runs on the board against Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi. His partner in crime was team's captain Sanju Samson, who played the role of sheet anchor with a much-patient 33-ball 48 in a 150-run partnership.
However, SRH got little to defend their mistakes on the day as both Buttler and Samson were dropped before the partnership got dangerous. Buttler's dropped catch came as early as the fifth over when the Englishman was batting on just seven.
SRH all-rounder Vijay Shankar was the culprit on this occasion as he misjudged the trajectory of the ball at long-on. Buttler, who miscued a ball by Rashid Khan, played it straight to Shankar at long-on, who was left in two minds whether to stop the boundary or jump to take the catch. the all-rounder finally opted for the latter, only see the ball jump right in front of his hands.
Video Link: https://www.iplt20.com/video/237697/when-sanju-buttler-were-dropped
The second dropped catch of the innings, easiest of the night, saw Manish Pandey missed a sitter as in an attempt to chase a delivery wide of the crease, Samson shot it straight to the outfielder. But Pandey could only snatch at the ball and shelled it.
While the Englishman went on to hit the ball 11 fours apart from eight maximums, Samson also had four fours and two sixes to his credit.
For SRH, Rashid Khan (1/24), Vijay Shankar (1/42), and Sandeep Sharma (1/50) picked a wicket each.
Put into bat, the Royals were off to a sedate start as they managed just five runs of the first two overs.
Newly-recruited SRH skipper Kane Williamson, searching for wickets early on in the innings, introduced spin in the third over by bringing in star bowler Rashid.
Jaiswal smashed three fours, before the Afghan showed his class and trapped the youngster leg before.
RR skipper Samson, who was dropped on 23 by Manish Pandey in 10th over, announced his arrival with a six over mid-wicket off pacer Khaleel Ahmed.
On the other end Buttler, who looked in sublime touch, also hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two boundaries in the sixth over as the Royals amassed 42 runs for the loss of one wicket in the Powerplay.
The duo continued to hit boundaries at regular intervals at the small Feroz Shah Kotla ground, collecting 18 runs, which included two sixes, off all-rounder Vijay Shankar in the seventh over.
Having successfully navigated Rashid’s four overs, Buttler and Samson upped the ante in the 13th over, plundering 17 runs.
The Englishman muscled a six over wide long-on before lofting one over extra-cover for a boundary.
With all bowlers leaking runs, Williamson turned to Mohammad Nabi, who is playing his second game of the season, but Buttler hammered the off-spinner for two sixes and as many fours.
Vijay Shankar managed to get rid of Samson in the 17th over with young Riyan Parag walking in.
There was no stopping Buttler, who was in complete control, as he continued to hit boundaries at will.
Sandeep Sharma, eventually brought his innings to an end of the penultimate over.
(With inputs from PTI).
