IPL 2021 | RR vs SRH: Hits and Flops as Jos Buttler piles on the woes of perturbed Sunrisers

Jos Buttler had been struggling to find the peach of his form in the Indian Premier League so far. Just before this game, he had said, “We've played well in phases.” But on Sunday, not only did the team play well in all departments of the game to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by a huge margin of 55 runs but Buttler himself was on a roll, scoring his maiden T20 century. 

After being put in to bat first, Rajasthan with the help of Buttler’s century (124 runs) scored a huge total of 220 runs in their quota of 20 overs. Apart from Buttler, skipper Sanju Samson batted well for his 33-ball 48. Chasing that, Hyderabad tried to start aggressively with  57 runs in the powerplay without a loss. 

Just after the first dismissal, when Mustafizur Rahman bowled Manish Pandey, the team lost control and never came back, eventually ending up with 165/8 in the 20 overs. Kartik Tyagi, who was playing his first game of the season was brilliant with the ball alongside 'The Fizz' Rahman. Apart from heroes, this game had villains too, and all of that shall be covered in the section Hits and Flops. 

Hits 

Jos Buttler

The Englishman after playing, probably the best T20 innings of his life, joked, saying, “I finally will have Alastair Cook stop telling me that he has got one T20 hundred more than me.” But the knock was more than just another hundred, it was a lesson for anyone trying to learn how you build a T20 inning. 

When he started his innings, the 31-year-old was playing exactly how he had played so far in this year’s league, that is struggling to time the ball. At one stage he was eight from 13 and then at another stage, he was 35 from 33. Having played 33 balls, the wicket-keeper batsman started to tee off little by little. His shots started connecting and he was naturally finding the gaps. 

In the next 31 balls, the Somerset batsman hit 89 runs, including his second fifty coming off just 17 balls. In his knock of 124, the Taunton born hit 11 fours and eight humongous sixes. It was Buttler who made all the difference, making sure that the fifth bowler, who was actually a combination of bowler, goes for 63 runs. 

Mustafizur Rahman

The Fizz as he is called did exactly what he is known for, mix up the length and the speed. It was him in his second over that Pandey was cleaned up around his legs on the very first ball after the powerplay. His cutters and slower ones got the batsman in a spot of bother and as a result, he was able to pick up three wickets and went for just 20 overs in his quota of four overs. 

In fact, at the time when all other Royals bowlers were being taken to the cleaners by Bairstow and Pandey, he went for only 10 runs in his first two. The class of Fizz is being displayed from the fact that in the seven games that he has played so far, the Bangladeshi left-arm speedster has picked up eight wickets. 

Kartik Tyagi

Playing only his first game of the season, the 20-year-old Tyagi was more than just on the money. The speedster was not only bowling speedy bouncers, well directed at the shoulders and the head of the batsmen but was also able to pull in the odd yorker and bowl at the good length at the start of the innings, showing exactly why he should have been picked up at the very instant he was available for selection post his injury at the start of the season. 

The Hapur born was bowled three overs at the stretch and it was only in the third over that he was taken for 16 runs. In the first two overs, Tyagi, was pacy, bouncy and into the minds and bodies of the batters, terrorising them, making them commit mistakes, just unlucky that he didn’t get the wicket. 

The Uttar Pradesh and India U-19 representative got the wicket as well, that too of the SRH captain Kane Williamson, who tried to take on his bouncer, but holed out in the deep to Chris Morris. The youngster made an impact, one that will not only guarantee him a second chance but many more in the games to come. 

Flops

Kane Williamson

Given the captaincy of the side midway, it wasn’t really great start for the Kiwi man, who failed both as a batsman and as a skipper in this game. While he wasn’t really brilliant with the bowling changes, the field planning wasn’t that great either. 

The Blackcaps skipper didn’t look as himself at all and it was evident on his face in the field as well. The was worry, frustration and even a slight bit of anger when he got out while batting and these are not the expressions that we associate with Williamson. His innings of 20 runs was basically a struggle throughout which was ended by Tyagi. 

Maybe there are some unresolved issues in the dressing room, or maybe the bowlers conceded way too much for him to handle in the very first game, but whatever it might be, it cost the team a game and if Sunrisers are looking to get back, Williamson needs to be back at being the refrigerator of a cool man that he is and need to pull out those ideas from his hats. 

Sandeep Sharma

The Delhi wicket is a massacre ground for bowlers no doubt, but sometimes the bowlers drag on just a little bit more. And bowling a no-ball is crime. Sandeep Sharma not only bowled a no-ball, but he also committed the mistake of keeping it full to Buttler. 

In his last two overs, the Punjab bowler went for 17 and 24 runs respectively, both the times hammered by Buttler, whom he did eventually get outplayed down. In total, the 27-year-old conceded 50 runs in his quota of four overs, putting a lot of pressure on his fellow bowlers and skipper Williamson.  With this performance of his, he might have risked his chances of playing the second game as well. 

While Sunrisers are still with just one win from seven games and lying at the bottom of the table, they would have another opportunity at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when they take on Chennai Super Kings on May 7. The Royals would also be up against the same opponent at the same venue but on May 5 only.