Buttler mastery gives RR two-in-two wins

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ninth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Jos Buttler was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Buttler hits first IPL 2022 century

After demonstrating their batting prowess against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, RR came into this game brimming with confidence. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal falling early, Jos Buttler took the attack to the opposition immediately. He clobbered Basil Thampi for 26 runs in his first and only over of the match. Yet the real damage came after he found stability at the other end in the form of his skipper, Sanju Samson.

The Englishman continued to play his shots freely after the powerplay, and soon raced to a 32-ball half century. Samson, too, soon joined the party, swatting Tymal Mills and Murugan Ashwin for a six each in consecutive overs. The pair stitched together a partnership of 82, before Kieron Pollard claimed Samson as his first victim.

The haemorrhage of runs did not stop there for MI. Buttler seemed unphased with the loss of wickets, while Shimron Hetmyer took little time to find his groove. Hetmyer swiped Pollard to all parts of the ground for the second 26-run over of the match, and ensured the run rate went at 10 per over.

Buttler started losing steam towards the end of the innings, a combination of the hot sun and his long stay at the crease, but not before reaching his century. His century this afternoon was his second in his IPL career, and the first overall of this year’s tournament.

Bumrah and Mills excellent at the death

18 overs; 182 runs; 3 wickets; Buttler on 99; Hetmyer on 35. RR would have thought 200 would be the minimum score to achieve from this position, but MI’s death overs specialists had other plans.

Despite Buttler reaching his 100 on the first ball of the 19th over, Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Hetmyer in the next ball. Three balls later, he yorked Buttler’s stumps, and suddenly RR were wondering if they could get to 195, with the shorter batting lineup they had played today. To add further misery, Ravichandran Ashwin was run out in the last ball after a brilliant piece of work by Tilak Varma.

Mills was equally, if not more, miserly in the 20th over, conceding just 8 runs with the bonus of 2 wickets. The two spearheads, with all their experience, gave way just 11 runs in the last 12 balls, and restricted the men in pink to 193.

Consecutive fifty for Kishan

Despite skipper Rohit Sharma falling quickly in the pursuit of 194, Ishan Kishan, who had reached a half century in the previous game, seemed to pick up from where he left off. The left-handed batter played some lovely drives to keep the pressure on the Royals.

He was soon accompanied by young Tilak Varma, who the MI team highly rate. Varma seemed cool and confident from the start, and was unafraid to take on all bowlers. Perhaps the most impressive characteristic of Varma was his treatment of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, two highly experienced spinners of the IPL. Together, the pair added 81 runs in 54 balls for the third wicket, with Varma getting to his half century as well.

Sharma left frustrated as chase goes off the rails

Sharma and the dugout may have thought that the chase was in the hands for the Mumbai Indians with the way Kishan and Varma batted. Yet once Trent Boult and Ashwin got rid of them respectively, things started to go south for them.

Chahal’s last over nearly saw him taking a hattrick, were it not for a fluffed chance from substitute Karun Nair, and the responsibility of finishing the chase fell to MI’s seasoned finisher, Pollard. Yet, the ask was too steep for him as well, and, in the end, the men in blue fell 23 runs short.

From a winning position to a slow but critical defeat, the game was similar to their opening match in a lot of ways. Nevertheless, it must have begged skipper Sharma to ask himself and his team where it all went so horribly wrong.