Jos Buttler hammers his seventh IPL ton, surpasses Chris Gayle
Jos Buttler unleashed his beast mode in a crucial run-chase against Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 31 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at Eden Gardens. Buttler's incredible century helped the Royals chase down a mammoth 224. They were down to 121/6 before he tormented the KKR bowlers. Buttler smashed his seventh ton, now the second-most in the IPL.
A scintillating knock from Buttler
Despite losing Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, and Riyan Parag, RR reached 100 within 10 overs. Buttler held his end, having stitched crucial partnerships with Samson and Riyan. However, RR slumped from 100/3 to 121/6 in no time. Buttler kept RR afloat along with Rovman Powell. With 46 runs required in three overs, he went all out. He completed his ton in the final over.
Buttler smacks a 60-ball 107*
Buttler raced to his century off just 55 balls on the final over's first delivery. He eventually smashed an unbeaten 107 off 60 balls, a knock laced with 13 fours and 6 sixes.
Buttler goes past Chris Gayle
As mentioned, Buttler now has the second-most centuries in the IPL (7). He broke a tie with Universe Boss Chris Gayle, who owns six centuries in this regard. Buttler is now only behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli (8) in terms of IPL tons. Earlier this season, Buttler smashed a ton against RCB, equaling Gayle on the tally.
Two tons for Buttler in 2024
It is worth noting that Buttler has the joint-most tons in an IPL season (four in 2022), with Kohli (four in 2016). The former has already smacked two centuries halfway into the ongoing season. Buttler has tallied 250 runs at 62.50 in IPL 2024.
Three tons in IPL run-chases
Buttler has become the first batter with more than two centuries in IPL run-chases. The one against KKR was his third such ton in this regard. Kohli and Ben Stokes follow Buttler with two centuries each. Notably, Kohli and Stokes are the only batters other than Buttler with multiple hundreds in run-chases in the cash-rich league.
Joint-fourth-highest centurion in T20 cricket
Buttler hit his eighth century in the T20 format overall. He is now only behind Gayle (22 ), Babar Azam (11), and Kohli (9). He equalled David Warner, Aaron Finch and Michael Klinger (8 centuries each). The England star has raced to 11,396 runs in the T20s at 34.95. In addition to eight tons, he owns 80 fifties. This was his 409th match.
Here are his IPL numbers
Buttler now owns 3,473 runs from 102 matches at 39.02. In addition to his seven tons, he has smacked 19 fifties. His strike rate is 148.29. As per ESPNcricinfo, Buttler has raced to 477 runs against KKR at 43.36. This was Buttler's second IPL century against the team. For RR, Buttler owns 2,946 runs at 43.32.
How did the game pan out?
Riding on Sunil Narine's 109, KKR compiled a massive 223/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30) and Rinku Singh (20* off 9 balls) were the only other KKR batters to score over 15. In reply, RR were off to a flier before slowing down. Buttler broke free just at the right time as RR crossed the line on the final ball.
