da supremo： With 46 to get from three overs, KKR seemed to have the match in their hands, but Jos Buttler had other ideas
da bet7： ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-20241:39
Rapid fire review: Buttler’s knock among the greatest in a chase?
17.1Starc to Buttler, SIX runsFull and right into the swinging arc, Buttler clears his front leg and tees off down town to clear the ropes.Deep square comes in, point goes back17.2Starc to Buttler, 1 wideSlips this full delivery way outside off, left alone. Wide called17.2Starc to Buttler, no runCut away to deep point17.3Starc to Buttler, 1 run, OUTDrilled to long-off, calls for two but they were never going to make it. Boult was very slow in turning around, but in all fairness there was never a second. Boult continued to run nonetheless to get Buttler back on strike. Must say it was an excellent return on the bounce from Iyer to the bowler.17.4Starc to Buttler, no runAttempts a reverse scoop as Starc slants it full and across, misses.17.5Starc to Buttler, FOUR runsDug in short, Buttler takes on the short ball and manages to get enough bat on it to bisect square leg and short fine. Excellent anticipation from Buttler. This would’ve been signalled wide had he not got bat on it.17.6Starc to Buttler, 5 wideReaches out to scythe this behind square, the keeper has fumbled, this one bursts through his gloves and runs away to the boundary. Five wides wrapped in a gift.17.6Starc to Buttler, 1 runSensibly drives to deep cover point for a single. Royals need 28 off 12.18.1Harshit Rana to Buttler, SIX runsHeaved over deep midwicket! Deep into the stands. Buttler stays his ground and picks the bones out of this slower length ball.18.2Harshit Rana to Buttler, no runFull toss, belted straight to cover at the edge of the ring. Doesn’t take the run.18.3Harshit Rana to Buttler, FOUR runsHarshit Rana may have thought for a second he’d done well to go yorker-length. Buttler uses the depth of the crease to take it on the full and shovel it down the ground to beat long-on.18.4Harshit Rana to Buttler, SIX runsDug in short, Buttler pulls and clears a leaping Starc at deep square! Anticipated the short ball and was ready for it when it arrived. Hit it right off the middle. Flat hit to the bigger boundary.18.5Harshit Rana to Buttler, 2 runsMistimes a heave into the leg side, they come back for the second as Starc loses his balance as he gets to the ball at deep square.18.6Harshit Rana to Buttler, 1 runWorks it gently into the leg side as they take a quick single.KKR are an over short and so can have only four fielders, as against five, outside the ring.Varun Chakravarthy to bowl the final over. KKR need to defend eight.19.1Varun to Buttler, SIX runsDug into the pitch, Buttler goes back and thumps this over long-on. Also gets to his century as the Royals dug out applauds a sensational innings19.2Varun to Buttler, no runFlays this hard to long-off, refuses the single.3 off 419.3Varun to Buttler, no runWidth outside off, crashes it to deep point. Keeps strike, so it’s another dot ball.19.4Varun to Buttler, no runFinds the fielder as he reverse sweeps straight to short third. Good stop by Harshit19.5Varun to Buttler, 2 runsGets a high full toss, Buttler thumps it to wide long-off, the throw from Starc is loopy and wide, Buttler somehow cobbles a second. He’s exhausted, but somehow gets there.Scores level19.6Varun to Buttler, 1 runHeaves it into the leg side, gets it past the infield and Royals have pulled off IPL’s biggest run chase.Jos Buttler can’t feel his arms. He has no strength left. He is soaking wet, the jersey sticking to his body like a wet towel. He’s barely able to walk back, but how satisfied will be, having helped Royals pull off a heist.Buttler could barely strike the ball off the square in the first half of his innings, but the inherent belief that he could find his gears in the end kept him going. And when push came to shove, with the asking rate spiralling higher, he found his hitting range. Even as wickets kept tumbling, he held his own and saw off a sensational chase. Take a bow.