Rajasthan Royals (RR) made it two wins in a row as they beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 3 runs in a thrilling match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Jos Buttler (52 off 36) and the spinners starred as RR survived a late onslaught from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to edge past CSK in a thrilling contest. Buttler was ably supported by Devdutt Padikkal (38 off 26), R Ashwin (30 off 22) and Shimron Hetmyer (30 off 18) as RR posted a competitive 175/8. The RR spinners then got into the act, choked the CSK batters, and picked up regular wickets in the middle overs before Sandeep Sharma held his nerve to defend 21 off the last over against the rampaging Dhoni and Jadeja.
After the game, former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh lavished praise on Jos Buttler following his outstanding run in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Harbhajan reckons that the England keeper-batter is the perfect player as he is adept against all types of bowling.
Buttler, England's white-ball skipper, was the top run-getter in IPL 2022 after amassing 863 runs. The RR star has been in stellar form this season as well, having already notched up three 50-plus scores in four matches. He has already scored 204 runs this season, and after the half-century against CSK, Buttler has completed 3000 runs in the IPL. He has scored 3035 runs in 86 matches with an average of 40 at a strike rate of 150. Furthermore, he has notched up 5 centuries and 18 half-centuries in the cash-rich league.
Speaking to Star Sports' Cricket Live, Harbhajan lauded Buttler after he became the third-fastest batter to reach 3000 IPL runs.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to Star Sports' Cricket Live, Harbhajan lauded Buttler after he became the third-fastest batter to reach 3000 IPL runs.
{{/usCountry}}He said: "I fell short of words to praise Jos Buttler. He is a proper batter of the cricket ball. He uses the crease to perfection, possesses good technique, and he has good footwork against pace and spin. For me, he's the No. 1 batter in world cricket at the moment."
Rajasthan currently sit pretty at the top of the table having won 3 of their 4 opening games. Their next game is a repeat of the 2022 season finale against Gujarat Titans and the Royals will be itching to exact revenge for the loss in the final last season.