Against the Punjab Kings on May 20 at Dharamshala, Jos Buttler was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada for a three-ball duck, which was also the fifth duck for Buttler this season.
New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals (RR) fluent batter Jos Buttler registered an unwanted batting record on Friday in the prestigious tournament, where he registered the most ducks (5) in a single season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Jos Buttler was the orange cap winner of the cash-rich league in the 2022 season and the right-handed batter started this season on a good note.
But as the season progressed, RR’s opener lost his consistency and touch and later on was seen struggling in the “Toughest League.”
Against the Punjab Kings on May 19 at Dharamshala, Jos Buttler was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada for a three-ball duck, which was also the fifth duck for Buttler this season.
Royals opener Jos Buttler has looked scratchy since the tournament progressed as the batter amassed 392 runs in 14 matches at an average of just 28.00, with four half-centuries and a highest score of 95 this season.
In the last seven innings, Buttler hasn’t lived up to the expectations of the Royals as the opener just managed to score a total of 59 runs, with the highest score of 40 and registering four consecutive ducks in the Indian Premier League 2023.
This all comes after a phenomenal season in 2022, in which the Royals opener was the orange-cap winner, smashing 863 runs in 17 matches with four centuries and four fifties to his name.
The Punjab Kings put up a total of 187/5 in 20 overs. Although PBKS batters struggled in the initial phases against RR bowlers, they lost four wickets for 50 runs in 6.3 overs. But later on, with the help of Jitesh Sharma (44 in 28 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and the most expensive player, Sam Curran (49* in 31 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes), Shahrukh Khan (41* in 23 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) came to the rescue, taking PBKS to a good total.
In the chase of 188, Rajasthan Royals got off to a horror start as they lost Jos Buttler early for a duck. Then Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 in 36 balls, with eight fours) and Devdutt Padikkal (51 in 30 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) stitched a match-winning partnership of 73 runs for the second wicket, helping RR stage a comeback.
Later on, cameos from Shimron Hetmyer (46 in 28 balls, four boundaries, and three sixes) and a last-over six from Dhruv Jurel off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar’s delivery helped RR chase the target.
With this win against the Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals are in the fifth spot in the points table with seven wins and seven losses. RR now have a total of 14 points under their belt.
