Jos Buttler stole the thunder from Sunil Narine as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter thumped the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) opener’s maiden century with an all-time great knock in the 31st IPL 2024 match which was played in Kolkata on April 16.
Sunil Narine hammered 109 in 56 balls with 6 sixes and 13 fours after KKR was asked to bat first by RR captain Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to field.
Narine was supported well by Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30), who added 85 runs for the second wicket. Rinku Singh (20*) finished well as KKR finished with 223/6 in 20 overs. Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen were the best RR bowlers with two wickets each.
RR needed a fiery start and Jos Buttler, along with Riyan Parag (34) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (19) provided the same as they posted 100 in 8.2 overs. But then Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine shook RR's middle order, as they were reduced to 121/6 in no time.
Rovman Powell then provided some relief to Buttler as he slammed 26 in 13 balls. But the majority of the chase was shouldered by Jos Buttler, who came into the XI as an impact sub.
Buttler continued when the pressure increased and took the chase to the final over. He remained unbeaten on 107 in 60 balls, with 6 sixes and 9 fours, as RR won the match with 2 wickets in hand.
This successful chase by RR of a 224-run target, helped the Sanju Samson-led side equal their record of the highest IPL chase ever.
Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine picked two wickets each for KKR.
Jos Buttler was rightly named the Player of the Match as his team now has 6 wins from 7 matches and 12 points to their name. KKR remains in second spot in IPL 2024 points table with 8 points from 6 games and 4 wins.
The cricket fraternity was unanimous in their praise for Jos Buttler for one of the greatest IPL knocks of all time.
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