There are sights you don’t normally see on a cricket field, irrespective of how close a match turned out to be and an annoyed, visibly frustrated Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be on top of that list.
But that wasn’t the case on Friday night at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur as Rajasthan Royals pulled off a run-chase in Dhoni-esque style against Dhoni’s men to stay alive in the playoff race.
And starring in the run-chase that went down to the wire was, of course, a wicket-keeper batsman. Jos Buttler, Royals best batsman by a country mile this season, scored a 60-ball 95 and took his side past the finish line.
But don’t get fooled by his final score, this was anything but easy-going for the Englishman.
Display of character
Much like he did in the Royals’ previous match against Kings XI Punjab, Buttler was off to a flier in the Powerplay against Chennai as well. And much like he did in that previous match, Buttler slowed down considerably in the middle overs.
Against KXIP, Buttler went from 45 runs off 22 balls at the end of the batting Powerplay, to 82 runs off 58 balls when he was dismissed before the death overs. That’s 37 runs from the last 36 balls he faced. That particular dismissal, in fact, prompted Rohan Gavaskar to make a bizarre observation on air – that the wicket was a blessing in disguise for Royals as that could bring in bigger hitters at the death like Stuart Binny (we are not kidding), which, of course didn’t work because the pitch was not easy to bat on once the ball got older.
It was more of the same on Friday night against Chennai Super Kings. Buttler was, once again, off to a phenomenal start. At one point, he was batting on 36 off 16 balls, with the team’s score reading 37 in the third over. The move to promote Ben Stokes as an opener didn’t exactly pay off for the Royals but the decision to play Buttler at the top of the order, taken a few matches before, has seen the Englishman score four consecutive half centuries.
But, yet again, Buttler slowed down after the Powerplay. Between overs 6 and 16, Buttler scored 32 runs off 24 balls. In fact, after 12 overs, Buttler was on 62 off 37 balls, while after 15 overs he was 66 off 42. That was the phase Chennai thought they might have pulled this back in their favour, after a few quiet overs saw Buttler face just five balls in the span of three overs.
Buttler survived all that, and sure had luck go his way as well. Shane Watson, on to bowl his first over in the 16th, put down a return catch. And as it happens so often in cricket, Buttler hit a reverse-sweep boundary in that very over to rub it in. A couple of overs later, Buttler shaped up to play the scoop over fine leg off Dwayne Bravo, didn’t get good contact. Dhoni dived to his left, got there on time but put it down, perhaps, because he dived a bit too much and went with one hand. The equation was 28 off 12 balls then.
And wouldn’t you know it, Buttler – who was struggling for long periods of play to get any timing – knew he had to just connect once in the final over with 12 needed. He obliged, and it was celebration time for the Royals.
Sloppy Chennai
But it was not the fielding, or dropped catches, that irked Dhoni. He has come to expect that from his side. What has been a bugbear for him for most part of this IPL is his bowling lineup’s execution at the death. Bravo, Shardul Thakur and David Willey were all guilty of bowling too full at the death. Willey’s errors especially proved costly as K Gowtham turned the match around in the 19th with two sixes straight down, both off full length deliveries.
“We were supposed to bowl one particular length. The bowlers were instructed what to bowl: it was supposed to be back of a length. But they could not execute,” said Dhoni, without mincing his words. “We were hit for a lot of boundaries off full balls towards the end. The execution was very haphazard. 176 was a par score, maybe even par-plus, but the bowlers let us down.”
On that pitch, the target Chennai set was defendable but given their tendency to leak runs on the field and with the ball in hand, perhaps it is time for Chennai to look at more than just par scores.
In the end, it was a case of Buttler’s recovery at the death after a tough phase in the middle – a display of grit, as much as it was about style early on – that keeps Rajasthan Royals alive to fight another day.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!