Buttler 100* trumps Kohli's 113* as Royals go 4-0 up
Royal Challengers Bengaluru slumped to their fourth defeat in four games in IPL 2024
Royal Challengers Bengaluru slumped to their fourth defeat in four games in IPL 2024
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Karthik Krishnaswamy
11.32pm Superb performance from Royals who've begun this season with an absolute bang. Four games, four wins, but they know from recent memory that a good beginning is no guarantee of going deep into the IPL. As for RCB, well, lots of problems to dwell on and sort out. Before that, though, we have a tasty double-header coming up tomorrow: MI vs DC first up, and then LSG vs GT. Two potential crackers, so do be there to follow all the action on your favourite website. Until then, good night!
Jos Buttler, Player of the Match: "A little bit of luck to get it over the rope in the end, didn't time it that well, but delighted to get the win. However long you've played the game, you still have those anxieties and stresses. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself it'll be okay. Just keep digging in, working hard, at some point we will be okay. I actually did feel really good in the last game, even though I only scored 13 or something. We've started this season really well. We've been together for three seasons, everyone's comfortable with each other, we just need to keep this momentum going."
Sanju Samson: "I think anything below 190, with a little bit of dew coming in, with the batting order we have, I felt it was a good total to chase. Touchwood, few more games to go, we are bowling well. And we have got a break, which is helping us charge up and come in fresh. [Are RR a batting or bowling side?] I think bowling is 9, and batting is 8.7. It was just a matter of time with Jos. He just needed to get through the powerplay and middle a few balls."
Kumar Sangakkara: "I thought it was a good toss to win, we were pretty decisive in wanting to chase. RCB started well, but Nandre Burger brought us back with the spinners, and Jos and Sanju were clinical. Everyone requires a chat, but the chat doesn't have to be about cricket or technique or anything like that. Jos is the best white-ball opener in the world, and all he needed to do was sit back and ignore some of the noise. [On Jaiswal:] We know the quality that Jaiswal brings to the side, we just want him to relax and bat, and bat long. He just needs to calm down a little bit, rest up."
Faf du Plessis: "I think batting out there with Virat, we found the wicket really tricky and low. We did feel 190 would be a good score. I did feel we could have maximised 10 or 15 more towards the end. It was a good toss to win, you did see that it played much nicer with the dew. Virat was playing really well at the back end. Whether it was Virat or a Greeny or a DK coming in, we could have scored a few more. We tried, but it was quite tricky to hit. With the spinners, a lot of balls were hitting the bottom of the bat. I think the pitch definitely got better. That's what dew does, that's the nature of the wicket. I thought it was a good toss for them to win. We started well in the first four overs, then the one over from our spinners, 20 runs, it shifted the pressure back onto us. Maxwell, all the right-handers batting in the middle, that's why I went to the left-arm spinner, Mayank, who's been bowling well for us this season. And the legspinner [Himanshu], you want to use the attacking option. When we got the wicket of Jaiswal, with the two right-handers in the middle, it didn't feel like the right time to use the offspinner."
11.08pm Terrific win for the Royals. It seems like a long time ago, but RCB began brilliantly with the bat before the Royals spinners began turning things around to restrict them to 183. It didn't feel like enough then, despite what Virat Kohli said about the conditions, particularly with all the doubts over RCB's bowling quality. Royals did it easily in the end, with a brilliant century from a back-among-the-runs Jos Buttler, and a superb 69 from Sanju Samson.
Buttler is on strike as Green comes on to bowl the last over. One to win, six to bring up the hundred.
Two to get. Single and six to get the century?
Siraj stays over the wicket to Hetmyer.
Meera: "Be ready to witness a miracle and be sure to see a surprise, it's a RCB win here"
After a wretched run in the IPL going back to last season, he scored a scintillating century to keep up Royals' perfect start
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