Jos Buttler scores second century of IPL 2022 to join Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle in illustrious batting list
Buttler reached the three-figure mark with a six off Pat Cummins in the 17th over, continuing his imperious form with the willow.
Jos Buttler on Monday consolidated his position in the Orange Cap race as he smashed his second ton of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders. The Englishman has been in phenomenal touch this season, having already scored two hundreds and two fifties in six games for Rajasthan Royals.
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Buttler's sublime show with a wide array of shots kept the Royals' scoreboard ticking with regular boundaries. He reached the three-figure mark with a six off Pat Cummins in the 17th over, continuing his imperious form with the willow. His 61-ball 103 was laced with nine fours and five maximums. He perished top-edged it to Varun Chakaravarthy after becoming the second overseas player after Shane Watson to score a hundred at the Brabourne Stadium.
Buttler initially put up 94 runs for the opening wicket with Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 24 off 18 balls. Buttler then teamed up with Sanju Samson to add a 67-run stand for the second wicket, powering the Royals past the 150 mark in the 16th over.
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The 31-year-old Buttler is now the sixth batter to score multiple hundreds in a single IPL season. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) stalwart Virat Kohli heads the list with four centuries in the 2016 edition. He was the top run-scorer of the tournament, where he amassed 973 runs from 16 matches, which included 4 centuries and 7 half-centuries.
Chris Gayle, Hashim Amla, Shane Watson and Shikhar Dhawan are the other four batters to have multiple IPL tons to their name. All have got two centuries each with Dhawan being the latest one to achieve the milestone. The left-handed batter had scored two centuries in 2020 while Shane Watson and Hashim Alma had scripted the feat in the 2018 and 2017 editions respectively. Chris Gayle had hit two hundreds back in 2011 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Players with multiple IPL hundreds in the same season:
Chris Gayle, 2012
Virat Kohli, 2016
Hashim Amla, 2017
Shane Watson, 2018
Shikhar Dhawan, 2020
Jos Buttler, 2022
"Enjoyed both the hundreds," says Buttler in the innings break as Royals notched up their highest score of the season. After Buttler's exit, Shimron Hetymer hit a 13-ball 26 to power the inaugural IPL champions to 217 for five in 20 overs.
"A bit more fluent today. A little bit sticky to start off with but once you get used to it, it was good to bat on. Difficult for bowlers with one short side. Early on bowl lengths even if you get hit. Towards the end, be smart with slower ones and short lengths, and make them hit to the longer side as much as possible," he added.