Jos Buttler hit a century on his 100th Indian Premier League (IPL) match to help Rajasthan Royals register a facile six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Jaipur on Saturday. The victory ensured that the inaugural champions remained unbeaten in the 2024 edition. (Match Blog | Full Coverage)
The Jaipur night, however, was already lit up by the brilliance of Virat Kohli, who hit a sublime unbeaten century to help RCB post 183/3 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
But the target of 184 runs, to be scored in 120 legal deliveries, proved too little on a batting-friendly top. And Buttler, one of the most destructive batters in the game, showed no mercy against a seemingly dispirited RCB bowling attack.
100 runs in a mere 58 balls, the personal landmark and the team's victory sealed with a disdainful six in the final over, Englishman Buttler thus eclipsed Kohli's unbeaten 113 off 72, in every sense.
The two are now the two leading century makers in the IPL -- Kohli with eight in 234 innings and Buttler with six in 141 innings. Chris Gayle also has six tons in the world's premier T20 cricket league, but the West Indies great played 141 matches.
Here are the key stats from the Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru match:
- Virat Kohli now has the most IPL hundreds in a losing cause: three, one more than Hashim Amla and Sanju Samson;
- Jos Buttler is now Rajasthan Royals' second-highest scorer with 2831 runs. Samson leads with 3389;
- Jos Buttler emulates KL Rahul's feat of hitting a century in the 100th IPL match;
- Virat Kohli (110) goes past Suresh Raina (109) as the fielder with most catches in IPL;
- Jos Buttler (10) has won the most Player of the Match awards for Rajasthan Royals. Ajinkya Rahane, now with Chennai Super Kings, collected the POTM trophy 10 times as RR player.
The Sanju Samson-led Royals will stay put in Jaipur for a meeting with Gujarat Titans, while Faf du Plessis & Co. will head to Mumbai for a fixture against five-time champions, Mumbai Indians.
