Virat Kohli tried turning the fortunes of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) with his record-extending 8th IPL hundred but the bowlers let the team down once again. Win the toss and chase against RCB – it’s been the simple equation to put them on the mat this season and Rajasthan Royals didn’t have to think much about it when they took the field on Saturday night.
Despite having an early breakthrough in the second innings, the bowlers couldn’t manage to defend the huge total of 183; an outcome of Kohli’s efforts with the bat. But Jos Buttler had other plans. After featuring in a 148-run partnership with Sanju Samson, he finished the chase with a six off Cameron Green over deep square leg in the last over and also notched up his sixth IPL century. His effort came off just 58 balls, laced with nine fours and four sixes.
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Samson, who got 69 runs from 42 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes, spoke about Buttler’s return to form, saying that a big knock was around the corner for the England white-ball captain.
“It was just a matter of time with Jos. He just needed to get through the powerplay and middle a few balls,” Sanju said at the post-match presentation.
Speaking about the teamwork shown by his side, he said, “I think anything below 190, with a little bit of dew coming in, with the batting order we have, I felt it was a good total to chase. Touchwood, few more games to go, we are bowling well. And we have got a break, which is helping us charge up and come in fresh.”
Meanwhile, a tricky question was thrown at Sanju, asking him to pick the strongest department in his team. The wicketkeeper-batter dealt with it smartly, saying, “I think bowling is 9, and batting is 8.7.”
With this win, the Royals jumped up to the top of the points table with 8 points. They will next face Gujarat Titans on April 10 at home.
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