Jos Buttler, the Most Valuable Player of the previous season’s Indian Premier League (IPL), was the center of attention at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday. As the captain of England’s limited-overs squad, he lived up to the hype by scoring a fiery 54 off 22 balls, including seven fours and three sixes.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) achieve their highest Powerplay score (85) in the tournament’s history. However, on the second-to-last ball of the sixth over, bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi, Buttler was bowled out by an excellent delivery, which led him to return to the pavilion.
The ball that dismissed Buttler was pitched at the good length region, with a slight nip back at a good pace. Despite staying on the leg side to hit the ball, the speed was too much for Buttler, and the ball clipped the top of the off-stump.
Farooqi, who had previously given up 26 runs off his first ten balls, was thrilled to have dismissed Buttler in such a manner. What a significant wicket that was! SRH managed to eliminate the dangerous Buttler. The bowler delivered a hard, back-of-a-length ball that landed on the stumps, with a slight inward movement.
Despite staying on the leg side to play a punch shot, Buttler was unable to cope with the pace of the delivery, and the ball clipped the top of the off-stump, causing the off-bail to go off. This was a moment of relief for SRH.