Jos Buttler (100* off 58) and Sanju Samson (69 off 42) set the stage on fire in Jaipur with sparkling knocks as Rajasthan Royals (RR) made it four wins in a row by beating Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Buttler and Samson helped RR recover from the early loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal with a fantastic 148-run stand as they unfurled a range of exquisite strokes to power the home side to a six-wicket win.
Buttler made the occasion of his 100th IPL match more special by bringing up his 100 and finishing off the match in style with a six.
Earlier, a cracking eighth IPL century by Virat Kohli helped RCB post 183-3. Kohli put on an exhibition in elegance, timing and placement to score 113* (72), adding 125 runs with Faf du Plessis (44 off 33) for the opening wicket to help the visitors post a competitive total.
Chasing 184, Rajasthan Royals were jolted early as Reece Topley struck off the second ball of the innings to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal. Captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler then got together, mixed caution with aggression to steady the ship. Buttler upped the ante in the final over of the Powerplay, smashing 4,4,6,4 off Mayank Dagar to take RR to 54-1 at the end of six overs.
The pair kept chipping away at 10 runs an over as Buttler brought up his first fifty of the season, off 30 balls, and RR reached 95-1 at the halfway mark. Samson then went after Dagar, smashing a couple of fours and a six to bring up his fifty in style, off 33 balls. The duo kept milking runs at ease and added 148 runs off 86 balls before Mohammad Siraj finally provided the breakthrough, having Samson caught at deep backward square leg on 69 (42).
Samson and Buttler had put RR in a strong position by then, with 36 needed off 32 balls. But that Samson wicket provided a ray of hope for RCB as they dismissed the in-form Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel cheaply. However, Buttler remained calm and with 20 needed off 21, he, along with Shimron Hetmyer, took RR past the finish line with five balls to spare as Buttler, on 94, hit a six with one needed to win to bring up his 100 and finish off the match in style. Buttler remained unbeaten on 100, while Hetmyer remained not out on 11 (6).
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Samson won the toss and elected to field.
Openers Kohli and du Plessis got RCB off to a breezy start. Kohli was the primary aggressor to start off, as he played some delightful wristy shots. He unfurled a couple of lovely flicks for fours and an effortless six off Burger. He hit four fours and a six in the first six overs, while Du Plessis also hit a couple of fours as the pair added 53-0 in the Powerplay.
Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal then pulled things back a bit, giving away just 11 off the next two overs. However, Du Plessis started switching gears, cracking a couple of sixes off Boult, Kohli joined in with a six off Chahal and then another one straight down the ground off Riyan Parag to bring up his fifty in style.
The pair brought up the 100-run stand in just 71 balls. While in between, RR dropped a couple of tough catches, Boult dropped a relatively simple one of Du Plessis on 42 off Chahal, but the RCB captain’s luck didn’t last long as Chahal had him caught at long on, off the next ball on 44 (33) to break the partnership.
Captain Samson brought back Burger, and the move worked as he cleaned up Glenn Maxwell in the next over. Kohli, though, kept the scoreboard ticking with his placement and timing as he brought up his eighth IPL century off 67 balls in the penultimate over. He finished the innings in style with three fours off Avesh Khan in the final over to take RCB to 183-3 at the end of 20 overs.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 113 off 72 balls with 12 fours and four maximums.
Earlier, in the 18th over of the first innings, RR brought on Shubham Dubey as their Impact Player, replacing Yuzvendra Chahal, who bowled a fine spell of 4-0-34-2. (IPL)
