Kolkata: Following his match-winning knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Jos Buttler revealed his game plan in the death overs.
Buttler was awarded Player of the Match following his brilliant, unbeaten knock of 107 in just 60 balls, which was laced with nine boundaries and six maximums. He scored runs at a strike rate of 178.33. A sensational century from Jos Buttler and fiery cameos from Riyan Parag and Rovman Powell helped RR secure a pulsating two-wicket win over KKR in IPL 2024 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
The English batter said that negative thoughts were coming in his mind in the last three overs but he kept believing that he could do this. “It was a roller coaster, trying to keep the belief and then the last three over, the negative thoughts came. I was thinking too much. I was thinking the exact opposite and dared to dream that I could win the match for the team. Been watching golf, a golfer Max Hoffa said, anytime something negative comes, think the exact opposite and dare to dream. This is what that kept going,” Buttler said in the video posted by the RR franchise.
Further in the video, RR skipper Sanju Samson lauded Buttler’s performance. He said that the 33-year-old player is one of the greatest batters in the world and called him the boss. “Bowlers can get under real pressure when Jos is batting. He is one of the greatest batsman and very grateful to have him in the side. Jos is the boss. This is what IPL gives you each other,” Samson said.
The Royals pacer Avesh Khan shared his feelings during the later half of the Rajasthan innings. He said that it was a tense situation for him when Buttler and Rovman Powell were batting. “When Powell and Buttler were playing, Dhak Dhak ho raha tha. But when you are on the field, you understand the situation and it does not happen. I got the best seat in the house to watch him. Hats off to him for the way he was hitting,” Avesh said.
At the end of the video, West Indies all-rounder Powell spoke about his emotions after clinching a victory. He said that they played a really good game of cricket, especially with the bat. “The emotion was all over the place. When you put on that pink jersey, it is very, very good. He is a very good white-ball player. Adjectives are inadequate to describe how I am feeling. We played a very good game of cricket, especially with the bat. When you see it come off, it is wonderful,” Powell said.
Recapping the match, Sanju Samson-led RR won the toss and decided to field first. Meanwhile, Narine (109), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30), Rinku Singh (20*) powered KKR to 223/6. Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen bagged two wickets each in their respective spell to lead the RR bowling attack. On the other hand, Boult and Chahal picked up one wicket each.
During the run chase, Buttler (107) played a match-winning knock to chase down the 224-run target. He slammed 9 fours and 6 sixes in the second inning. Apart from Buttler, Parag (34) and Powell (26) also helped the Rajasthan-based franchise to clinch a 2-wicket win over KKR.
The Knights’ bowling unit displayed a sloppy performance as they gifted plenty of runs in the second inning. However, Rana, Narine, and Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets each in their respective spells. After the end of the match, RR hold the top of the table with 12 points. While KKR stand in second place on the standings with 8 points.
