JAIPUR: Virat Kohli’s blitzkrieg century went in vain as Jos Buttler’s thunderous hundred lit up the Sawai Mansingh Stadium to power Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 6-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Saturday.
Buttler’s century in his landmark 100th IPL match snatched the limelight from the record-making Kohli’s unbeaten 113-run knock and guided RR to a comprehensive triumph. With this victory, RR top the points table with four out of four triumphs.
Rajasthan Royals lost the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal only on the second ball of their chase of 184 runs against RCB on a short-of-a-length ball. However, captain Sanju Samson joined the charge with the star batter Jos Buttler with aggressive shots. The duo kept taking doubles to pile the pressure on RCB bowlers.
Buttler in red-hot aggressive form hammered Mayank Dagar for 20 runs as he smoked RCB bowler with three boundaries and one maximum. He made the most out of his landmark 100th IPL match as he found his form with a 30-ball fifty while Samson looked calm and composed at the other end.
With a cracking six off Dagar, Samson also brought up his half-century off 33 balls. The duo put RR back on track with a century partnership. Mohammed Siraj then broke a 148-run partnership as he removed dangerous-looking Samson for 69.
Riyan Parag then came out to bat and the batter opened his tally with a cracking four. However, Yash Dayal ended the star batter’s stay at the crease for 4. In the last over, with just one run to win Buttler needed 6 runs for his century and the batter slammed a stunning six bringing up his outstanding hundred in 58 balls, guiding RR to 6 six-wicket victory.
Earlier, the ‘Pink City’ Jaipur witnessed some cracking shots by the batting maestro, Kohli, who became the first-ever batter to achieve 7,500 runs in the IPL. The batting maestro made an unbeaten 113 off 72 while captain Faf du Plessis scored 44.
Put to bat first, Kohli started his innings with an aggressive approach as he smoked two boundaries off Nandre Burger in the second over.
Captain Faf du Plessis led his team from the front, smacking boundaries at regular intervals. In the 6th over of the game, the duo brought up their 50-run partnership stand. Faf du Plessis hammered Trent Boult in the 9th over for 15 runs with the help of two maximums.
With a cracking six, Kohli brought up his stunning half-century and his third of the season in the 11th over of the game. RCB openers also brought up their 100-run stand in the 12th over.
Yuzvendra Chahal finally provided his team with a breakthrough as he dismissed RCB captain Faf du Plessis who was caught at the end of the 14th over after scoring 44 in 33 balls. Chahal was deprived of du Plessis’ wicket on the previous ball when Trent Boult dropped the catch near deep extra cover. Glenn Maxwell’s poor run with the bat continues as he was clean bowled by Nandre Burger in the 15th over.
In the 19th over of the game, Kohli with his dominant show brought up his first century in IPL 2024 off 67 balls and 8th in IPL overall, which was followed by his customary celebration. In the last over, Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking as he cracked three boundaries off Avesh Khan to take RCB’s total to 183/3 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 183/3 (Virat Kohli 113*, Faf du Plessis 44; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-34) vs Rajasthan Royals 189/4 (Jos Buttler 100*, Sanju Samson 69; Reece Topley 2-27). (ANI)