Jos Buttler starred with the bat as Rajasthan Royals (RR) pulled off a thrilling two-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (RR) at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday (April 16).
Chasing a daunting target of 224, RR found themselves in a precarious position at 121/6 in the 13th over. However, Buttler, who came out to open the innings, produced 107* off 60 balls and stayed till the end to see his team through on the final delivery.
This remarkable chase equaled RR's own record set in 2020 when they successfully chased down 224 against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in Sharjah.
It was Buttler's second century of the season. He notched up the three-figure mark with a crucial six off Varun Chakravarthy at the start of the final over when RR needed 9 runs to get over the finishing line.
His unbeaten knock, studded with 9 boundaries and 6 sixes, propelled him past Chris Gayle to claim the second spot in the list of players with the most IPL centuries, with a total of seven, trailing only behind Virat Kohli's eight.
In the post-match interaction, Jos Buttler emphasized the importance of self-belief in his remarkable innings.
"Keep believing, that was the real key today. I was struggling a bit for rhythm. At times you feel frustrated or you are questioning yourself. I tell myself it's okay, keep going, you'll get your rhythm back and try to stay calm. There's been plenty of times throughout the IPL, you've seen crazy things happen," Buttler said.
Drawing inspiration from Indian legends like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, Buttler highlighted the significance of staying at the crease and maintaining belief, a lesson he learned from conversations with RR coach Kumar Sangakkara.
"Guys like Dhoni and Kohli, the way they stay till the end and keep believing and I tried to do the same. That's something Sangakkara has told me a lot - there's always a breaking point. The worst thing you can do is to not fight and give your wicket away. He just tells me to stay there and at some point, the momentum will change. That's been a big part of my play over the last few years. (Greatest IPL innings?) I would think so. Very satisfying," he added.
With this victory, Rajasthan Royals strengthened their position at the top of the 10-team points table. They will next face Mumbai Indians in Jaipur on Monday (April 22).
