IPL 2021: Jos Buttler's Maiden T20 Century Sets Up Big Rajasthan Royals Win

Rajasthan Royals 220 for 3 (Buttler 124, Samson 48) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 165 for 8 (Pandey 31, Mustafizur 3-20, Morris 3-29) by 55 runs

Even David Warner's absence from SRH playing XI and captaincy couldn't bring good fortune to the side. The struggle remains the same so as their position at the IPL 2021 points table. SRH lost to Rajasthan Royals by 55 runs.

Jos Buttler's magnificent maiden T20 century helped Rajasthan Royals defeat SRH by 55 Runs. Buttler's 64-ball 124 includes 11 fours and 8 sixes. His last 74 runs came off just 25 deliveries.

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Jos Buttler – Sanju Samson 150 run Stand for 2nd Wicket

On a good batting surface, it’s very important for any team that their top order give them the perfect start needed. Not having a great IPL so far, Jos Buttler must be itching to get some solid runs under the belt and set the tone for the remaining half of the tournament.

Buttler started slowly and took his time before he nailed his first four of the innings against Khaleel in the fourth over. On the opposite, Sanju Samson started with a six off his first delivery over midwicket. Williamson immediately brought on Rashid to break the partnership, Buttler reverse-swept and survived a chance that was looking plumb in the replay.

SRH tried keeping both the batters calm by having their main bowlers bowling at them from both the ends but, Buttler and Sanju played them very well. They kept the scoreboard ticking at almost 8 runs per over before Buttler started unleashing himself. Jos muscled a six over long on to Sandeep Sharma in 13th over and brought his first fifty of VIVO IPL 2021 in 39 deliveries.

Samson kept balance right and kept chipping boundaries here and there whereas Jos was going berserk on the other end. Buttler smashed two sixes and two fours to Mohammad Nabi in the 15th over and scored 21 runs. Samson fell to Vijay Shankar in the 17th over scoring 33-ball 48. For the second-wicket partnership, they added 150 runs off 82 balls.

Jos Buttler went on to score his maiden T20 century off just 56 balls. In the 19th over, he smashed Sandeep Sharma for 23 runs and played on on the last ball. Jos Buttler scored 124 runs off 64 deliveries including 11x4s and 8x6s at a strike rate of 193.75.

SRH middle-order needs to step up

Last night Mumbai Indians showed a template to the other teams that how to win games at Delhi while chasing anything over 200. Their top-order perfectly set up the stage for the middle order and finished the game while maintaining the run-rate under the reach. SRH has been failing to do the same this season.

Openers Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow added 57 runs for SRH in the powerplay. Just after the powerplay, Mustafizur Rahman sent Pandey (31) back in seventh over and Bairstow (30) holed out to Anuj Rawat at long-on in the eighth over. SRH could never recover from this blow.

Kane Williamson tried stitching up partnerships with middle-order but, mounting run-rate pressure and some fantastic bowling from Rajasthan Royals led to the SRH downfall. Vijay Shankar (8), Kedar Jadhav (19), Mohammad Nabi (17) and Abdul Samad (10) nobody stood up to the challenge and even convert the start into a good inning at least. As result, SRH could only manage 165/8 in 20 overs.

For RR, Mustafizur Rahman (3/20) and Chris Morris (3/29) were the stand out performer with the ball.

SRH Captain – Williamson or Warner?

Removing David Warner from the captaincy and not giving him the game, must be a tough pill to swallow for any SRH or even any IPL fan. Warner has been one of the most decorative T20 openers around the globe and as a leader as well he has proved himself over the years. For the last 5 IPL seasons, he’s the only captain to score 500+ runs constantly. His win ratio is almost equivalent to the Willamson while the later has only led in one-third of games to the former.

If Warner was kept out to bring in an extra bowling option in Mohammad Nabi on a batting paradise then Williamson’s move didn’t work. Nabi gave away 21 runs the only over he bowled and scored 17 runs with the bat. With Warner on the top on this surface, could have strengthened SRH’s lacklustre batting. Kedar Jadhav could roll his arm for an over or two.

In the attempt of breaking Buttler and Samson’s partnership, Rashid Khan bowled out within the first 11 overs. This was the first time ever, he finished his four-over quota in the first 11 overs of the game. In the last 9 overs, RR scored 134 runs.

With the bat, Kane Williamson didn’t look at this best too. In the previous appearances he looked very fluent and contributed well too but, tonight he looked rusty. In a chase of 220, he scored 20-ball 20.

However, SRH captain Kane Williamson has said that team management will hold a number of conversations regarding David Warner's return to the playing XI.

Questions To Be Answered

David Warner has never been dropped from the SRH before. Will he be brought back to the team seeing the loss against RR?

After an impressive start, will RR stick with Kartik Tyagi or will they be tempted to play Jaydev Unadkat in the next game?

What Lies Ahead For Both Sides

Consistency is the key in this format and RR is yet to find its groove. But after today's all-round performance, RR will surely be high on confidence and would like to take on CSK in the same fashion.

SRH has lost six of their first seven games of VIVO IPL 2021 and sitting at the bottom of the points table. But, they would like to turn it around in the second half of the tournament. They will play Mumbai Indians at the same venue.

Records Broken

1. Jos Buttler scored his maiden T20 century.

2. Manish Pandey has struck 300 fours and 100 sixes in his IPL career.