Mumbai: Jos Buttler (70, 47b, 6×6) hammered half a dozen sixes in his unbeaten 70 as Rajasthan Royals (RR) grafted their way to 169 for three against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their IPL encounter here Tuesday. Jos Buttler, fresh off a hundred in the previous game, had to work hard during his knock on a slow Wankhede pitch. He had the support of Shimron Hetmyer (42 n o, 31b, 4×4, 2×6). The two shared an unbeaten 83-run stand off 51 balls to take score past the 160-run part. Buttler who had scored 37 runs in the first 34 deliveries he faced got the next 33 runs off 13 balls.
Royals did not have the best of times in Powerplay, reaching 35 with the loss of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (4). Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal (37, 29b, 2×4, 2×6) started playing their strokes after the power play overs and shared a 70-run stand to give the innings a move on.
RCB fielding also helped the Royals as they dropped Buttler twice in the same over bowled by Akash Deep. Adding insult to injury, Buttler smashed Akash Deep over long off for a six in the same over. In the following over, Padikkal got a life too as he was dropped in the deep off left-arm pacer David Willey (1/29).
After his former RCB teammate Harshal Patel sent Padikkal back to the dressing room, Royals skipper Sanju Samson (8) fell to a soft dismissal off Wanindu Hasaranga (1/32)after dispatching the mystery spinner for a straight six.
It seemed the ball stopped on Samson who offered a sitter straight back to Hasaranga, leaving the Royals at 86 for three in the 12th over.
In the slog overs, Royals found it tough to get the big hits with RCB bowlers using the conditions effectively.
Buttler took a step back and let the hard-hitting Hetmyer go for the boundaries. However, the English wicket-keeper was back to his fluent best, hitting Mohammad Siraj for successive sixes in the 19th over to get to his half century. Then in the very next over Buttler hammered Akash Deep for two more maximums.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 169 for three (Jos Buttler 70 n o, Shimron Hetmyer 42 n o) versus RCB.
