Buttler blitzkrieg powers Royals to 55-run victory over SRH

New Delhi, May 02 (PTI): Jos Buttler announced his return to form with belligerent maiden T20 hundred as Rajasthan Royals made a mincemeat of an out-of-sorts SunRisers Hyderabad, winning Sunday’s IPL encounter by a whopping 55-run margin.
Opening the innings, Buttler smashed a breathtaking 124 off 64 balls while Sanju Samson was effective in his 48 off 33 deliveries which powered Rajasthan to a commanding 220 for three. Even a change in captaincy couldn’t bring in luck for SRH as they could manage only 165 for eight in their 20 overs. Chris Morris (3/29) and Mustafizur Rahman (3/20) did the bulk of the work with the ball while Kartik Tyagi (1/32) Rahul Twetia (1/45) picked a wicket apiece.
With the win, the Royals moved up to fifth spot while SRH continued to stay at the bottom, having won only one match all season. Looking to register their second win of the season, SRH raced to 57 for no loss in the first six overs. However, Bangladesh pacer Rahman struck right after the first strategic time out, getting rid of Manish Pandey (31). The dangerous Jonny Bairstow (30) and Vijay Shankar (8) soon followed. With the pressure mounting, skipper Kane Williamson (20) went for the big shot only to be caught at deep midwicket by Morris off Tyagi as wickets tumbled at regular intervals.
Mohammad Nabi (17 off 5) injected some hope in the SRH camp, as he smashed Tewatia for two sixes in the 14th over. However, the Afghan was back in the dug out after a quick cameo. With 91 needed in the last five overs the lower and middle order struggled.
In the end the, top heavy SRH did not have enough fire-power to pull off the mammoth chase. Earlier, put in to bat, Buttler and Samson stitched a 150-run partnership for the second wicket after the Royals lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) cheaply. While the Englishman hit the ball 11 fours apart from eight maximums, Samson also had four fours and two sixes to his credit. For SRH, Rashid Khan (1/24), Vijay Shankar (1/42) and Sandeep Sharma (1/50) picked a wicket each.

Brief score:Rajasthan Royals: 220 for 3 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 124; Rashid Khan 1/24).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 165 for 8 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 31; Mustafizur Rahman 3/20).