JAIPUR, India – West Indies Twenty20 International captain Rovman Powell remained on the bench, while left-hander Shimron Hetmyer played a minor role in a six-wicket win for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
But an even, undefeated 100 from England Twenty20 International captain Jos Buttler, playing his 100th IPL match, topped an equally skilful, unbeaten 113 from Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli to lead the Royals on a successful chase of 184 to win the match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Buttler struck nine fours and four sixes from 58 balls, and Sanju Samson made 69 off 42 balls to set the stage for the Royals chase, and they made it four wins in a row to move to eight points that catapulted them to the top of the 10-team table, provisionally ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders, who have one match in hand.
Powell has not played a match for the season, and this may be a worry for West Indies if he continues to warm the bench ahead of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup to be staged in June in the Caribbean and United States.
Hetmyer lost his place in the West Indies white-ball set-up during the England Tour of the Caribbean last December, but he has played all four matches, and he finished on 11 not out and got a crucial single of the penultimate ball of the 19th over to give Buttler to opportunity of scoring a momentous hundred.
Buttler and Samson had helped Royals recover from the early loss of prolific, young India left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal caught at mid-off for a duck off England pacer Reece Topley to the second ball of the run chase.
The second wicket pair shared a 148-run stand and unfurled a wide array of enterprising strokes to power the home team to victory.
Buttler made the occasion more special when he crashed Australian all-rounder Cameron Green for a six over wide long-on to bring up his hundred and finish the match in style with five balls remaining.
Earlier, Kohli marked his return to his best form following a break from the sport due to personal reasons that forced him to miss the preceding England Test Tour of India to crack his eighth IPL hundred and propelled RCB to 183 for three.
Kohli put on an exhibition in elegance, timing, and placement in a 72-ball innings that included 12 fours and four sixes, and he shared 125 for the first wicket with former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, who made 44 off 33 balls.
But it was not enough, and RCB slumped to their fourth defeat in a row in five matches, and they are eighth in the table on two points.
CMC