Sawai Mansingh Stadium: Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja felt the manner in which talismanic batter Virat Kohli made his eighth IPL century against Rajasthan Royals didn’t make it look like deliveries were two-paced in nature, which would make strokeplay difficult at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.Kohli was pristine in hitting 12 fours and four sixes to make an unbeaten 113 off 72 balls, also his third century in his last seven IPL innings to level his highest score in the competition. He went hard in scoring against pace, making 67 off 39 balls, while accumulating 46 off 33 balls against spin.
Kohli hit almost 62% runs of RCB’s total of 183/3, while the rest of the batters made 59 runs from 48 balls, though RCB lost to RR by six wickets, with Jos Buttler making an unbeaten 58-ball century. Interestingly, Kohli’s 67-ball ton is the joint-slowest century in IPL, leveling with a hundred made by Manish Pandey in same number of balls against DC in 2009.
“He started out so well. He hit a couple of boundaries in the first few overs, and you knew you were watching something special tonight. The only surprising thing was him speaking about how the deliveries were not carrying through on this pitch, but the way he batted, we didn’t see any shortcomings in the pitch.”
“In terms of his shot-making, no corner of the ground was left where he didn’t smash the ball. What he said made us think something might be wrong with the pitch, but the way he played, there wasn’t a single shortcoming that could be seen,” said Jadeja, currently an IPL expert for JioCinema.
In chasing 184 on a pitch which got better to bat on, Buttler weathered the early storm and then brought out the attacking play to perfection in returning to form by exactly 100 runs off 58 balls, laced with nine fours and four sixes, in what was also his sixth IPL century.
Through his brilliant knock which helped RR maintain their hundred per cent win record, Buttler also become only the second batter to score a 100 in his 100th IPL match, after KL Rahul. Buttler was also well-supported by captain Sanju Samson making 69 off 42 balls, with the duo sharing a match-defining 148-run stand.
“It was really impressive. Everyone knows he’s been a little bit light on runs in the first few games and looked a little bit off as well, but once he got through the first 10-11 balls today, you could see he had found his groove. His mojo was back, he was timing the ball beautifully. That’s the very best of Jos.”
“He had great support from Sanju Samson as well. For him to back up a great first game and then score 69 runs tonight in a 148-run partnership with Jos was something very special. So, Sanju is going to get a lot out of this innings as well. What a partnership at a critical time to be able to chase those runs down,” added former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson.
With RR now on top of the points table, Samson has been earning plaudits for his leadership and using an experienced bowling line-up very well. With 178 runs from four games, Samson is currently placed in the third spot in the run-getters list headed by Kohli, which also keeps him in contention for a wicketkeeper’s slot in India’s squad for the Men’s T20 World Cup, starting on June 1 in the West Indies and USA.
“He showed intent from ball one in his own cool, calm, collected way. A 130 strike rate in the first 10 balls means you’re not just trying to get ones. You’re waiting for a loose ball and he did put it away straight away and because of the skill he’s got, he’s playing the ball on its merit.”
“If a bowler bowls a slightly loose ball, because of all the shot options that Sanju Samson has got, he scores very freely. You can see the calmness in him, and he continues to do that game after game, there’s no reason he can’t have a very successful tournament. I’m actually predicting he’ll have a long and successful IPL with the bat this year,” concluded Watson.
