Left Arm Around

Jos Buttler returned to form with a majestic unbeaten ton as Rajasthan Royals claimed a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

With only 2 runs needed to win, Buttler knocked a single off the final ball of the 19th over before crunching Cameron Green for six over mid-wicket to reach his 6th IPL ton in his 100th match in the competition.

The England white-ball captain silenced any doubters having struggled for runs in the season thus far, striking 9 fours and 4 sixes to give Kumar Sangakkara’s side their fourth win in four matches this season.

Buttler, 33, also achieved the landmark of 150 IPL sixes with a brilliant shot straight back over off-spinner Mayank Dagar’s head.

He was particularly dismissive of the inexperienced Dagar, making full use of the final over of the powerplay to crash 18 runs.

RCB made the perfect start in defence of 183 as Reece Topley removed the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal for a second-ball duck, however Buttler and captain Sanju Samson effectively sealed the game with an outstanding partnership of 148 in 86 deliveries.

Samson eventually perished for 69 when Yash Dayal took a smart catch on the fine-leg boundary edge, while Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel then fell in quick succession.

However, Buttler and West Indian Shimron Hetymer ensured any lingering nerves were calmed to secure victory with five balls to spare.

They now sit top of the IPL table.

Earlier, India’s golden boy Virat Kohli made history of his own to reach his 8th IPL hundred, becoming the first man to hit 7500+ runs in the competition.

His unbeaten knock of 113 from 72 balls was a vital cog in RCB accomplishing an above par score on this surface.

That being said, Andy Flower’s men be disappointed by a total that promised to be in excess of 200.

Captain Faf Du Plessis combined brilliantly with Kohli in an opening stand of 125, but his dismissal for 44 to Yuzvendra Chahal (2-29) saw the momentum of the contest shift dramatically.

No subsequent batters were able to pass double figures as Nandre Burger castled the struggling Glenn Maxwell for 1 and debutant Saurav Chauhan nailed Chahal straight to Jaiswal at cover to depart for 9.

Australian supremo Maxwell has managed only 32 runs in five IPL innings this year, placing huge question marks over his place in the team.

Kohli’s ton has received criticism for being the joint-slowest in the competition’s history (67 balls), but much can be said about the failures of the middle order in a less-than-impressive season so far.

A lack of genuine quality spin options has also been exposed by a number of explosive batting line-ups, leaving them eighth in the table with just one win from five fixtures so far.

They return to action against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

RR will look to make it five wins on the spin when they place Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on Wednesday.