England’s Jos Buttler has been in red-hot form with the bat for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. He is dominating the charts in the race to win the orange cap.
So far, Buttler has 618 runs to his name in 11 innings at an average of 61.80 and strike rate of 152.21. He has smashed three centuries and is the only second batter in IPL history to score more than two centuries in a single season.
However, it was Buttler’s fielding on Sunday which grabbed the headlines in Match 52 at the Wankhede Stadium against Punjab Kings (PBKS). The English cricketer pulled off a sensational one-handed catch to get rid of PBKS opener Shikhar Dhawan.
It all happened during the 6th over of PBKS’ innings when Dhawan tried to chip a delivery bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin over the mid-on boundary. The ball was sailing over the 30-yard-circle, but Buttler dived backwards and grabbed a stunner to see-off Dhawan.
Here is the video:
https://twitter.com/skipper_kohli/status/1522886754399055872
While Dhawan failed to get a big score, his new opening partner Jonny Bairstow shined with the willow to take Punjab to a competitive total. The right-handed batter smashed 56 off 40 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries, including a six, to take Punjab to 189/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
“It does happen in T20 cricket (on his series of low scores), batting in different positions makes it as well, back to opening and in the batting PP, it suits me well. I don’t think this is the best wicket at the Wankhede, but we still need to bowl well. One short square boundary, we’ll need to keep the ball away from it. It’s a very hot day, but we need to stay cool under pressure and need some calm heads,” said Bairstow during the innings break.
