‘Unbeatable’: Jos Buttler powers Rajasthan to their fifth victory in Indian T20 League 2022

Delhi and Rajasthan squared off in the 34th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was a high-scoring affair with 429 runs being scored in the match.

Delhi won the toss and Rishabh Pant invited Rajasthan to bat first in the match. Rajasthan had an electric start to their innings as Jos Buttler carried on his dream form. Devdutt Padikkal played a complimentary knock to Buttler, rotating the strike and taking occasional risks. The duo put together a stellar partnership of 155 runs for the first wicket. Padikkal was the first wicket to fall for Rajasthan after he scored 54 runs off 35 deliveries. Buttler however was in no mood to stop and continued with his onslaught. He was ultimately dismissed in the 19th over by Khaleel Ahmed but not before he has scored his third century of the season. Buttler stopped at 116 runs off 65 balls hitting nine sixes and nine fours during his stay.  Sanju Samson’s knock of 46 from 19 deliveries gave them added impetus to reach a mammoth total of 222 runs for the loss of two wickets in their 20 overs. Khaleel Ahmed and Mustafizur Rehman picked a wicket each but all the bowlers of the Delhi camp gave away runs at over nine runs per over.

Delhi had an Everest to climb in front of them to climb. The requirement for them was a sloid yet brisk start. They got off to a blazing start scoring 43 runs within 4.2 overs, but lost the vital wicket of David Warner (28 off 14 ) at this stage. Sarfraz Khan soon followed and Delhi was down to 48 for 2 within the sixth over of the innings. Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant got together and stitched a good partnership keeping Delhi in the hunt. But in the 10th over Shaw (37 off 27 ) was dismissed and Delhi was three down for 99 runs at the halfway stage. Rishabh Pant was starting to look dangerous striking the ball cleanly and looked like he will take the match away form Rajasthan. But Prasidh Krishna picked up the prize scalp with the help of a brilliant catch from Padikkal and put Delhi under pressure. Pant scored 44 runs off 24 deliveries before walking back to the hut. As the 15th over of the innings ended Delhi were stationed at 149 for 5 wickets, they still needed 74 runs of the last five overs. The required rate was touching 15 and with only Rovman Powell left as an accomplished batter, the hopes seemed very dim for Delhi.

Though Rovman Powell (36 off 15) was on his way to do something unreal, but it was not be. With 36 runs required of the last over, Powell smashed 3 sixes of the first three balls. There was a great drama at this stage with Rishabh Pant getting furious over  a controversial call by the umpire. Pant signaled his team to walk off but the game got on the way at last. The drama sucked out the momentum of the match and Delhi lost the match by 15 runs. Rajasthan won their fifth match of the tournament and went to the top of the table.

This how Twitter reacted.

Said this during the last game! 3 consecutive 100's is a dream! What a knock by #josbuttler and it kind of looks like he may not be resting before another 100 IN this edition of #IPL2022 ! #RRvsDC #DCvRR https://t.co/YGOMIRnG9F

— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 22, 2022

Jos Buttler is after Virat Kohli’s record of highest runs in one season. Flawless batting.

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 22, 2022

https://twitter.com/Lavana2197/status/1517533495383396352?s=20&t=ur9QvY_53PxmBq5T1Pzjrg

The 18 wickets picked up by Yuzvendra Chahal in this edition is the most for a bowler in the first seven matches of a season. #IPL2022 | #RRvsDC | #DCvsRR pic.twitter.com/jlRgcbe8rF

— Ritik (@Ritik_agarwal__) April 22, 2022

Sanju Samson captaincy isn’t spoken about enough! #RRvsDC #IPL2022

— Noir (@SachStoic) April 22, 2022

https://twitter.com/LukeRobinson_29/status/1517558585017917441?s=20&t=gRDY0vaLHG93ohE5F6rgxg

https://twitter.com/Pri_rj_39/status/1517558162311630849?s=20&t=ToPQWOZWhDZuqa5khJccNw

THIS WAS AGAINST SPORTSMANSHIP #RRvsDC pic.twitter.com/YxZA1CTGwp

— Prayag Chhabra (@PrayagChhabra) April 22, 2022

“The Rise and Rise of the @rajasthanroyals ! Even though @DelhiCapitals seemed to be in the hunt, 223 can be chased just 1% of the time. Delhi need to sharpen their bowling. Or bust.” #IPL2022 #RRvsDC

— Charu Sharma (@Charuonsports) April 22, 2022

https://twitter.com/IrfanPathan/status/1517565093705228293?s=20&t=ur9QvY_53PxmBq5T1Pzjrg

https://twitter.com/cricbuzz/status/1517564844685537281?s=20&t=ur9QvY_53PxmBq5T1Pzjrg

https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1517567706375106561?s=20&t=ur9QvY_53PxmBq5T1Pzjrg

Had @prasidh43 gone for 15-20 runs this would have been game gone for @rajasthanroyals. Brilliant 19th. #RRvDC #IPL2022

— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) April 22, 2022