Jos Buttler starred with the bat in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Saturday (April 19).
Chasing 204 to win, the wicketkeeper-batter slammed 97* off 54 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes, helping GT get over the line with four deliveries to spare.
Buttler became the latest batter to remain stranded in the 90s this season, joining Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer and Kolkata Knight Riders opener Quinton de Kock in the trend.
For Buttler, however, winning the match for his team was more important than completing a milestone. The 34-year-old had moved to 90 at the end of the 17th over and was on 96 at the end of the 18th over. He had plenty of time to notch up the three-figure mark, but allowed Rahul Tewatia to hog the strike in the final over after Mitchell Starc dismissed Sherfane Rutherford in the penultimate delivery of the 19th over.
Tewatia took a single to retain the strike for the final over and finished the chase with a six and a four.
“Really pleased with the two points. It was a beautiful wicket to bat on, just wanted to try and take it deep, pick our moments to attack. We’ve built some nice partnerships along the way,” Buttler said while speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“You want to win the game, I had my chances before that, two points is the most important thing. I told Rahul not to worry about my score, we got to win. Credit to him, he’s done that over the last few years where he can find the fence from ball one,” he added.
Buttler was effusive in praise of Rutherford, with whom he shared a crucial 119-run stand for the third wicket that took the hosts within touching distance of the finish line. Buttler also stitched a 60-run stand with opener Sai Sudharsan to help GT recover after skipper Shubman Gill was run-out for just seven runs.
“I have enjoyed batting with him (Rutherford). He hits sixes out of nowhere. His sixes off Mohit changed the game and the momentum,” Buttler stated.
Axar Patel, who faced second defeat in his maiden season as the captain of Delhi Capitals, acknowledged that his team finished 10-15 runs short after they were invited to bat by the Titans.
“We were 10-15 runs short. When we tried to accelerate, we kept losing wickets. We couldn’t finish the way we wanted. We did bowl decently. Had we managed to create few more chances, things could have been closer. It was a matter of couple of hits. We won’t think much about this loss,” Axar said.
Axar’s counterpart Shubman Gill agreed with his assessment, saying that he expected a target in the range of 220-230 and praised his bowlers for pulling things back in the death overs.
“At one point, it looked like the total was going to be 220-230. The way we pulled back, credit to the bowlers. Even in the first game, chasing around 245, we were right in the game, lost by just 10 runs. We’ve been chasing well, we’ve been defending well. They were ahead in the game, with Axar batting, it was difficult to hit the fast bowlers, so we thought we’ll continue with them.
“Disappointing way to get out (run-out), but we’ve got plenty of games here and hopefully will get my chance. Magnificent the way Butter and Rutherford rotated strike and those hits were tremendous. It was not just brutal hitting, it was very calculated batting, it was a treat to watch. Very happy to get this win,” Gill said.
