(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Published: Tue 16 Apr 2024, 11:12 PM
Jos Buttler took inspiration from legendary finishers MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli as he smashed an unbeaten 107 to trump Sunil Narine's first T20 century as Rajasthan Royals pulled off a joint record IPL chase against Kolkata Knight Riders off the final ball on Tuesday.
Chasing 224 for victory, Rajasthan looked in trouble at 121-6 in the 13th over but Buttler moved through the gears in his 60-ball blitz to achieve the target with two wickets to spare at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
Rajasthan equalled their own record from 2020 when they chased down 224 against Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah.
Buttler, who came in as an impact substitute, reached his second ton of the season in 55 balls with a six off Varun Chakravarthy at the start of the last over.
Buttler, struggling with cramp, then played out three dot balls before a two and a single on the final delivery ensured Rajasthan held on to top spot in the table with six wins in seven matches.
England's Buttler, who hit nine fours and six sixes, moved ahead of Chris Gayle with seven IPL tons and is only behind Virat Kohli's eight in the T20 tournament.
Buttler built key partnerships including 50 runs with Riyan Parag (34 off 14 balls), 57 with Rovman Powell (26 off 13 balls) and then an unbeaten 38-run stand with Avesh Khan (0 not out).
"Keep believing, that was the real key today. I was struggling a bit for rhythm. At times you feel frustrated or you are questioning yourself. I tell myself it's okay, keep going, you'll get your rhythm back and try to stay calm," Buttler said.
"There's been plenty of times throughout the IPL, you've seen crazy things happen. Guys like Dhoni and Kohli, the way they stay till the end and keep believing and I tried to do the same. That's something (Kumar) Sangakkara has told me a lot - there's always a breaking point.
"The worse thing you can do is to not fight and give your wicket away. He just tells me to stay there and at some point, the momentum will change. That's been a big part of my play over the last few years."
Skipper Sanju Samson saluted Buttler for his special knock.
"It (Buttler's knock) should go right on top. Being an opener, if Jos gets in, we all know at the dug-out that he'll be there till the 20th over," Samson said.
"If he's batting till the 20th over, no runs are unchaseable. He does something special."
Earlier, Narine hammered 109 off 56 balls to guide Kolkata, who stay second in the 10-team standings, to 223-6.
Narine put on 85 runs for the second wicket with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who hit 30, and got together for a 51-run stand with Andre Russell.
Narine, playing his 504th T20 match, reached his ton from 49 balls with a six and a four off Yuzvendra Chahal for Kolkata's third hundred in the IPL as he jumped for joy.
He was finally bowled by a Trent Boult yorker before he returned to a standing ovation.
Narine moved into the top three in the batting charts led by Royal Challengers Benguluru's Kohli (361) with 276 runs.
Rinku Singh finished off the innings on a high with his unbeaten nine-ball 20 including a four and two sixes.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets.
Kolkata Knight Riders 223/6 (Sunil Narine 109, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 30, Rinku Singh 20 not out; Avesh Khan 2/35)
Rajasthan Royals: 224/8 (Jos Buttler 107 not out, Riyan Parag 34, Rovman Powell 26; Sunil Narine 2/30).
Wednesday's match:
Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals
Ahmedabad
6 pm UAE Time
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