New Delhi: Back to their Jaipur fortress, Jos Buttler was RR's knight in shining armour against a buoyant KXIP. Caught in a precarious situation where the only way up is to win every game to qualify for knockouts, Buttler stood like a wall hard to bring down. The English batsman was at his brutal best as he used his reach to a great effect to land telling blows on the opposition bowling. He scored a half-century in 27 balls powering RR towards a healthy total.
For Rajasthan, the biggest challenge against a batting heavy Punjab was to put up a big score. Thanks to Buttler who ensured Rajasthan were put on course as he targeted every loose ball and dispatched it to the boundary. His assault was launched in the very first over when he showed class and elegance. He never tried to manufacture strokes but ensured width was punished. Marcus Stoinis paid for straying twice. Axar Patel too was milked for offering width outside off and quick pace. Mohit Sharma erred with length and Buttler ably placed all of them for boundaries.
Andrew Tye was the next to take on and after playing one good over from him, Buttler had a stable base and picked consecutive boundaries in his next over. RR were 63/1 after the powerplay at over 10 per over.
Now having gotten off to a start, it will be expected from Buttler to carry his bat through. Because if he does that, there is no doubt that Rajasthan will end up close to 200 and that could prove to be a winning total especially with the Sawai Man Singh pitch showing signs of wear and tear.
