Rajasthan Royals' opener, Jos Buttler on Monday became the first batter to hit two centuries in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The Englishman scored 103 off 61 balls to help the inaugural champions post 217/5 at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
During his 61-ball knock, the 31-year-old from Taunton hit nine fours and five sixes. On April 2, he hit 100 off 68 balls against Mumbai Indians at DY Patil Stadium. He thus became the fifth batter to hit multiple centuries in a single edition of IPL.
"Obviously, delighted to score the century against KKR. I thought it was a brilliant game of cricket. It was swinging to and fro with us," Buttler told Yuzvendra Chahal during the post-match chat for iplt20.com.
Chris Gayle (2011 for Royal Challengers Bangalore), Hashim Amla (2017 for Kings XI Punjab), Shane Watson (2018 for Chennai Super Kings) and Shikhar Dhawan (2020 for Delhi Capitals) have hit two tons in the same edition. But the record for most centuries in a single edition of IPL belongs to Virat Kohli, who slammed four tons for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2016.
Buttler now has 375 runs in six innings in IPL 2022, and with Rajasthan Royals playing at least eight matches more, he can surely look to equal or even break Kohli's record for most centuries in a single edition of IPL.
Here are some reactions:
Overall, Buttler has three centuries in IPL. Last season, he hit 124 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi. For the record, he has hit three of the last five centuries in the IPL.
After the innings, Buttler said that he "enjoyed both" the hundreds this season, but admitted that he was "a little bit more fluent today."
Buttler added 97 runs for the opening wicket stand with Devdutt Padikkal (24 off 18 balls), who only faced deliveries worth three overs in the first 10 overs.
He was then joined by skipper Sanju Samson (38 off 19 balls), who was equally destructive in their 67-run second-wicket stand in just 5.4 overs.
Rajasthan Royals next play Delhi Capitals on April 22 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
