Jos Buttler altered the game’s trajectory when the Kolkata Knight Riders, who had the better of the play for the most of the encounter, were certain to win. When he was scarcely able to run singles or doubles, the England captain blasted the winning runs, smashing 107 off 60 deliveries. Though KKR gave it their all against Buttler, no bowler seems to be good enough on his day.
Not everyone had such a great day, though—just Buttler. Veteran all-rounder Sunil Narine crushed his first T20 century on a night of stunning displays. Because of his 109 runs off of 56 deliveries, KKR was able to conclude the first inning at 223/6, but it was evident that they were ultimately 10 runs short. They might have lost the game if other batsmen had failed to step up when it counted, such as Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, and Shreyas Iyer.
Yashasvi Jaiswal gave Rajasthan a great start in the chase, and Riyan Parag followed suit with a career-best 34 runs off of just 14 deliveries. RR, however, lost their way in the middle when Varun Chakravarthy removed Shimron Hetmyer and Ravichandran Ashwin in consecutive balls. Following that, Rovman Powell seized charge of the game and gave RR a much-needed boost with a cameo of 26 runs off of 13 deliveries.
Once he was outside, the Jos Buttler performance started. He remained largely silent the remainder of the evening, but when the game was close to ending, he allowed his playful side to take over and began pushing limits. Another awful night on the field for Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who let up fifty runs in four overs before Harshit and Narine proved expensive in the last overs. In the end, Buttler simply flipped to help RR win their sixth game of the season with one needed off one.
Also read: IPL 2024: Match 31 features highlights from Rajasthan Royals’ second innings versus KKR
1. Where did the Kolkata Knight Riders go wrong?
Exactly where Shreyas Iyer & Co. made a mistake is difficult to determine. They were winning the match, and one should have hope because Narine, Starc, Rana, and Chakravarthy still had some time left. But cricket is all about what goes down on the field. The opposition bowlers looked foolish as Jos Buttler played some fantastic cricket and struck boundaries for joy. Considering their caliber, it’s odd that their pacers didn’t try wider yorkers or slower bouncers.
2. The fallen hero, Sunil Narine
For KKR, Sunil Narine was their one-man batsman army. Had he received some assistance from the other end, KKR might have added a few runs to their first innings total, which would have been a respectable score for them. Although he only averaged 3.00 with the bat in the 2023 edition, his 107-run knock was astounding, to say the least.
3. Jos the Boss reverses his 2022 personal
In order to keep RR’s hold on the table against Kolkata, Jos Buttler not only scored his second century of the IPL 2024 but also earned two points for the team. At one point, he was scarcely able to move, but nothing could stop the stumper-batter from reaching the goal. His 38-run partnership with Avesh Khan towards the conclusion of the process, during which the pacer didn’t face a ball, was incredible. That essentially captures Buttler’s brilliance. All in all, Eden Gardens witnessed another legendary cricket match, which was an incredible spectacle.
Losing skipper Shreyas Iyer said:
(Was this game a bitter pill to swallow?) I would second that actually, emotions were a roller coaster, certainly didn’t think we will get into this situation. It’s a funny game at the end of the day, he was striking the ball cleanly and timing them so well, have to take it on the chin and move on.
I mean at this point of time you see that you bowl your best deliveries, a little bit hit or miss and you are sent out of the ground, it’s good that it happened now rather than it happening in the later stages of the tournament, good learning for us. (On Sunil Narine) He is a great asset to the team and he is showing it every game, he is that kind of player who capitalizes on each and every moment. I’m glad that he is a part of our team.
Since he was striking it so well, I thought let’s take pace off the ball and gave it to Chakaravarthy and it’s high pressure when you have five fielders inside the circle, you basically don’t have idea where to bowl. It’s just about relaxing and rejuvenating, it was very humid as well today. It’s important to learn from our mistakes and bounce back. We have a few days break. At the end of the day, it was a great game, a few overs here and there but I’m really proud of the boys.
Winning captain Sanju Samson said:
Very happy with the win. We were wondering like the wickets we lost. Rovman hit a couple of sixes and that’s when we felt like we were in the game. Some luck also, they also played really well. The quality of spin they had, they bowled really well. This ground suited them. Jos did what he does for us in the last 6-7 years, so happy for him. It (Jos’s knock) should go right on top. Being an opener, if he gets in, no runs are unchaseable. He does something special.
POTM Jos Buttler said:
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. Guys like Dhoni and Kohli, the way they still the end and keep believing and I tried to do the same.
That’s something Sanagakkara has told me a lot – there’s always a breaking point. The worse 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.
India
