Jos Buttler hits seventh IPL hundred as Rajasthan Royals win final-ball thriller

16.04.2024, 22:54 skysports.com

Jos Buttler produced one of the greatest-ever IPL innings as his unbeaten 107 off 60 balls fired Rajasthan Royals to the joint-highest run-chase in tournament history.

Buttler smashed six sixes to go with nine boundaries as he notched a second IPL century of the season and seventh for his career - placing him second all-time, behind only Virat Kohli's eight.

Despite Buttler's heroics at one end, Rajasthan appeared to heading for just a second defeat in seven when slipping to 121-6 while chasing 224 to beat Kolkata Knight Riders, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer gone to successive Varun Chakravarthy deliveries.

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But, with 96 required from the final 36 deliveries, Buttler suddenly raced through the gears, bringing up a 36-ball half century when plundering four boundaries from Varun's next over.

He and Rovman Powell (26 off 13 balls) added 17 more runs from the 16th, with the latter then smashing the first three balls of Sunil Narine's next over for 16 before perishing two balls later.

Despite that blow, and an eighth wicket of Trent Boult falling in the 18th, Buttler continued his remarkable innings, bringing up his 55-ball hundred with a maximum to the first ball of the final over, with nine runs required.

Having faced every delivery in the last three overs of the match, the England white-ball captain then scored the winning single needed off the last ball to seal a quite remarkable two-wicket win.

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The victory sees the Royals stay top of the 2024 IPL table after six wins in seven, while the Knight Riders remain in second despite the agonising defeat.

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Earlier in the match, Narine had struck his own magnificent century, cracking 13 fours and six sixes in his 109 off 56 balls that lifted Kolkata to 223-6 batting first.

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