He scratched and clawed and dragged and didn’t find the ball in the middle of his bat and couldn’t hit other than the fielders. Jos Buttler hadn’t been in control; hadn’t played as he would have liked to; just hadn’t been having the Jos Buttler night.
Against the Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1, the Rajasthan Royals opener was 39 runs off 38 balls at one point. On the same pitch and same ground, at the same time, his batting partner Sanju Samson hammered 47 runs from 26 balls.
Then the tide – sort of – started turning for Buttler. A hit down the ground off pacer Yash Dayal, and what would have been a simple catch for Hardik Pandya at long-off – and an end to an ugly innings from Buttler – turned into smiles for both the platers after the GT skipper slipped on the wet lush ground and the ball went for a boundary.
A ball later, Buttler jabbed into the ground at a low full toss. And what should have been a dot ball turned into a boundary as the ball nutmegged Alzarri Joseph at short third man- a misfield to give Buttler his fifty. And it felt that he almost reluctantly raised his bat for he knew he’d been lucky, and importantly, there was a lot more for him to do.
A lot more he did – helped by another catch drop, this time by the rarely out-of-focus Rashid Khan.
After taking those four boundaries off Yash Dayal – two lucky ones, one of which would have resulted in his dismissal – in the 17th over, the Orange Cap holder teed off Joseph for three fours.
Jos Buttler completes 700 runs in IPL 2022.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 24, 2022
The big hits in the wait. They first came to Shami – in whose over Rashid spilt the catch before another lucky outside edge boundary came. Then Buttler finally found the middle, his power, his luck, his oomph- walloping it over long-off saw him suddenly reach 80 off 52 balls.
He thumped another big one, off Dayal in the last over, miles over long-on, before getting run out on the last ball of the innings, while returning back for a two; his energy levels and fitness, and desire for every single run for his team in what he knew was a good pitch to bat on, finishing with 89 off 56 balls in RR’s total of 188.
‘Lucky’ Buttler may be the headline you’ll see in plenty. But he made his luck count to put RR in a position that could take them to the final.
There were some hilarious, plenty of funny, tweets regarding Buttler’s luck tonight; some admiring his knock and the late assault.
Here are the best tweets on Jos Buttler’s knock:
Jos Buttler: an all-time great T20 banter innings from an all-time T20 great
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) May 24, 2022
Jos Buttler watching Sanju Samson from non strikers end pic.twitter.com/yq5CBEkvI6
— Vijay (@puntasticVU) May 24, 2022
Jos Buttler looking to qualify for India while Sanju Samson is on England’s radar. IPL is wild.#GTvRR
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) May 24, 2022
Jos Buttler acknowledging Gujarat Titans fielders after fifty by raising his bat. #IPL
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 24, 2022
Jos Buttler …
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 24, 2022
Jos Buttler is so good to watch when he doesn’t play against Mumbai Indians.
— ANSHUMAN
(@AvengerReturns) May 24, 2022
(@AvengerReturns) Blistering start to the IPL.
Then struggles for form.
Gets to the playoffs, continues struggling.
Then tees off everywhere.
Jos Buttler – big game player
— England’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) May 24, 2022
#JosButtler
— Thyview (@Thyview) May 24, 2022
Now he’s fielding for the team too – @josbuttler!
Saved a certain FOUR. https://t.co/wPPqUpmX56
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 24, 2022
What a great game! Jos Buttler could no wrong in the first half of the #TATAIPL. Now struggling to get one off the square. 7 overs to create an impact
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 24, 2022
Jos Buttler’s form has been so perfect for Royals. That’s how the tournament is. Cannot perform all the time. He is peaking exactly when required. First half and now the playoffs. #IPLplayoffs #RRvsGT
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) May 24, 2022
Is that Jos Buttler standing up in big games? Yeah.
— England’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) May 24, 2022
What a gigantic fifty scored by Jos Buttler in this important match, it requires lot of perseverance and self-denial to score fifty in 42 balls…”40s ball fifty” department is delighted to see this from you Jos the Boss
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) May 24, 2022
If Rajasthan Royals win the game, Jos Buttler will probably be the Player of the Match. But Sanju Samson’s attacking 47 (26) was more impactful. He kept scoring runs at a brisk rate even after an early wicket, that too with Buttler struggling to score at the other end.#GTvRR
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) May 24, 2022
Also Read: GT vs RR: Harsha Bhogle Wrote An ‘Impactful’ Tweet For Sanju Samson
