Buttler serves a perfect stake

Jos Buttler braved cramps to rustle up a tempestuous unbeaten 97 to guide Gujarat Titans to a wonderful seven-wicket win over Delhi Capitals here on Saturday. After the impressive Prasidh Krishna-led (4-41) Gujarat pacers limited Delhi to 203-8, the home side paced their chase impeccably to reach 204-3 in 19.2 overs as Buttler played the protagonist role during his 54-ball innings. There were mini-hiccups for the Titans in the form of early dismissals of skipper Shubhman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan (36), who helped Buttler add 60 runs for the second wicket. 

Crucial 119-run stand

But Buttler batted around them with collectedness in the company of Rutherford (43) until the left-hander was dismissed in the penultimate over.  The English-West Indian pair milked 119 runs for the third wicket that pushed GT closer to the shore.  Buttler’s batting is aesthetically violent as he exploited a pitch on which the ball came fluently on to the bat. The Somerset man has all the shots in the book but plays them in the calmest of ways. Instead of moving around the crease like modern T20 batters, Buttler often relies on a strong body core and quick hands to unfurl his shots.

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GT’s Sherfane Rutherford during his quickfire 43 against DC. Pic/PTI

There was a telltale example of his methods when he biffed Mitchell Starc for five boundaries in a row in the 15th over.  Buttler did not move towards the ball but reached out with a feet firmly rooted on the ground as the ball sped to the ropes between covers and point regions.  On the other hand, Rutherford’s batting was all about brute power, as he showed while pulling pacer Mohit Sharma for two consecutive sixes as GT motored on. 

Tewatia seals it

There was not a popular Buttler hundred as Rahul Tewatia finished off the match with a six and four off Starc with four balls to spare.  The result also helped the Titans to move to the top of the table with 10 points, same as Delhi but the former has a better net run rate of 0.98 against their opponent’s 0.58.

Buttler, who was seen struggling with cramps, admitted the heat was tough to handle. “I think it takes you by surprise how draining it is. I certainly felt that while batting, cramping up and stuff. But that’s part of the game to be fit and [to] be able to perform under pressure in the heat,” he said. 

The English batter wasn’t too bothered about missing out on a century, saying the win mattered more. “You want to win the game. It would have been nice, I had my chances, but the two points are nice. Rahul [Tewatia], in lots of games, comes on with few balls to face and can find the fence straight away, so he’s really cool under pressure.” Earlier, Gujarat bowlers, led by Prasidh, produced a disciplined effort to stifle the Delhi batting unit.  

Brief scores

DC 203-8 in 20 overs (A Patel 39, A Sharma 37, K Nair 31, T Stubbs 31; P Krishna 4-41) lost to GT 204-3 in 19.2 overs (J Buttler 97*, S Rutherford 43, S Sudharsan 36) by 7 wickets 

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