Indian Premier League 2022 is not on the verge of its end. Playoffs for the IPL 2022 began today at the Eden Gardens with 100 per cent capacity for the audiences to watch the spectacle. Gujarat Titans, table-toppers faced Rajasthan Royals for the qualifier-1 of the playoffs. With the toss in Gujarat Titans’ favour, skipper Hardik Pandya chose to bowl first.
Rajasthan Royals were looking pretty confident with their batting line-up as the openers marched on to the crease. Jos Buttler, with his unclear form from the last 4 matches looked up to the innings with sheer hope. GT got hold of the early wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the 2nd over itself as the left-arm pacer Yash Dayal bowled a brilliant ball to get ahold of Jaiswal.
On the other hand, Buttler struggled to keep his bat intact with the ball till the very end of the Royals’ innings. Buttler played brilliant innings of 89 runs in just 56 deliveries which included 12 boundaries and 2 maximums. In between Buttler’s fine knock, he was spared by the fielders quite a few times as many of his catches were dropped.
One of the luckiest times when he was saved was in the 17th over. The left-handed pacer Yash Dayal came in to attack and in the second ball of the over, Buttler was clear to hit it off the boundary line. As he tried to hit it, the ball went flying straight to the Long-on. Skipper, Hardik Pandya came in under the ball very quickly but unfortunately slipped and the ball went from above him. This was a crucial moment as Buttler smashed Dayal for 4 boundaries in the same over and brought up his half-century.
Here’s the video:
A similar escape happened in the previous over as Buttler got a thick edge and the ball went straight up, Rashid Khan came in sprinting but could not complete the catch. Buttler gave in all his energy and tried hitting as many boundaries as possible, but the other end was not keeping up with their wickets. Rajasthan Royals managed to put up a huge total of 188/6 as their innings came to a close.