Jos Buttler continued his golden run in this IPL season with another innings of substance when he made 67 for Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday.
At the time of going to press, MI were 41-2 after six overs.
MI bowlers, however, managed to keep things well in check by restricting Royals to 158 for 6. They had conceded 193 runs to the same rivals at this ground in their earlier clash on April 2, Buttler striking his first of three 100s this season then, and lost by 23 runs. Royals were slow off the block, making just 40 for one in Powerplay and then 73 for 2 after 10 overs with only Buttler able to play with some freedom on the slow pitch.
MI’s gamble of including Kumar Karthikeya Singh paid off as the Madhya Pradesh left-arm slow bowler, with his mix of wrist and finger spinners, kept even in-form Buttler quiet, apart from grabbing the important wicket of rival skipper Sanju Samson with his second ball in the competition.
Samson holed out to deep covers as he mishit a long hop straight to Tim David to give Karthikeya his maiden wicket. The bowler later finished with splendid figures of 1-19 in four overs.
The newcomer replaced injured Mohd Arshad Khan in the MI squad just before this game and was straightaway inducted into the XI. It proved to be a masterstroke as Royals could add just 38 runs in seven overs when he bowled from one end.
Daryl Mitchell, struggling to get going, was out in the over just after Karthikeya’s quota got over as he mishit Daniel Sams to give an easy catch to MI captain Rohit Sharma which terminated his third-wicket stand of 37 runs in 41 balls with Buttler.
Buttler went on the offensive in the 16th over from Hrithik Shokeen and struck the off spinner for four sixes, reaching his 50 with the second one hit straight, before the bowler dismissed him caught at long-off, off the last ball by angling the ball away from round the wicket.
Ravichandran Ashwin played a cameo of 21 in 9 balls, inclusive of one six and three fours, in the company of Shimron Hetmyer (6 not out) to help the total past the 150-run mark.
For MI, Riley Meredith also impressed with his figures of 2-24 while Shokeen was most expensive, with his three overs costing him 47 runs although he picked up two wickets.
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