Jos Buttler on Friday continued his phenomenal form with the willow as he notched up his third century of the ongoing IPL edition. The Rajasthan Royals star seemed to be in a world of his own, reaching the three-figure mark off just 57 deliveries against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium. The Englishman's sublime inning was laced with nine fours and as many sixes at the iconic venue in Mumbai. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
In an irrespirable batting display, Buttler hit 116 off 65 balls before perishing to a Mustafizur Rahman delivery in the penultimate over. Buttler started off slowly but steadily with his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal, who went on to score his first fifty of the season. The two put up 155 runs for the opening wicket to make the opposition attack look pedestrian. It was the highest opening stand for the Rajasthan outfit, eclipsing Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson's 144-run partnership against Chennai Super Kings.
After Padikkal's (54) exit, Buttler teamed up with skipper Sanju Samson as the two steered the team past the 100-run mark. Samson chipped in with a 19-ball 46, powering the Royals to 222/2 in 20 overs.
Buttler started off in a cautious manner, scoring his first 11 off 14 deliveries. He shifted gears as the game progressed to hit a 36-ball fifty. The floodgates opened after that as the right-hander touched his hundred in the next 21 balls.
{{/usCountry}}Buttler started off in a cautious manner, scoring his first 11 off 14 deliveries. He shifted gears as the game progressed to hit a 36-ball fifty. The floodgates opened after that as the right-hander touched his hundred in the next 21 balls.
{{/usCountry}}Overall, Buttler now has four IPL hundreds to his name. Three have come in the ongoing IPL season while his maiden ton came last year against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Buttler inched closer to Virat Kohli's record of scoring four hundreds in a single IPL season. The Indian batter was the top run-scorer of the 2016 IPL edition, where he amassed 973 runs from 16 matches, which included four centuries and seven half-centuries.
Most centuries in single IPL season
4: Virat Kohli (2016)
3: Jos Buttler (2022)*
2: Chris Gayle (2011)
2: Hashim Amla (2017)
2: Shikhar Dhawan (2020)
2: Shane Watson (2018)
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 India batter had scored two tons in 2020 while Shane Watson and Hashim Alma had scripted the feat in the 2018 and 2017 editions respectively. Chris Gayle had hit two tons back in 2011 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.