IPL 2022 | Buttler lopes Warner to become the highest overseas run scorer in a single season

Rajasthan Royals' swashbuckling opener Jos Buttler added yet another feather to his already illustrious cap on the night of the IPL final as he leapfrogged David Warner to become the second most prolific scorer in a single edition of the cash-rich league.

Buttler claimed the feat with a sumptuous cover-drive off Mohammed Shami in the 10th over of the innings at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The Lancashire cricketer surpassed former Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner, who had hammered 848 runs in 17 innings at an average of 60.57 and a strike rate of 151.42 with the help of nine 50-plus during the title-winning season in 2016.

Buttler is only behind the legendary Virat Kohli, who smashed a barely believable 973 at an average of 81.08 in the 2016 edition.

In 17 innings, he has scored 863 runs at an average of 57.53 and a strike rate of 149.05 with the help of eight 50+ scores (and 4 hundreds).

While Buttler couldn't go past Kohli's tally of runs, he equalled the latter's record of most centuries (4) in a season during the 2nd Qualifier against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Coming back to the final, the right-hander has endured a sedate start as he managed just 24 runs off his first 23 deliveries. Rajasthan will have hoped that the consecutive boundaries he hit off Shami in the 10th over flicked a switch for the cricketer.

However, that was not the case as Devdutt Padikkal's painstaking 10-ball two and the mounting scoreboard pressure finally led to his demise, with GT skipper Hardik at its heart.

Hardik bowled proper Test match lengths to tie down Padikkal, who Rashid Khan eventually dismissed. Buttler fell shortly afterwards for a 35-ball 39 when he nicked one to the keeper off the bowling of the Titans skipper.

RR was reeling at 98/6 in the 16th over at the time of writing.