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After having a dream run in IPL 2022, scoring 863 runs to clinch the Orange Cap, Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Jos Buttler hasn't had the kind of season he would have wanted so far in 2023.
His performance has been inconsistent, to say the least. It's been a case of "boom or bust" for him. The Englishman had a good start to the season, with four of his five 40+ scores coming in the first six innings. He then scored just 53 runs from 48 deliveries in the next four innings, before smashing 95 from 59 in RR's last game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
An in-form Buttler can be very hard for the bowlers to contain, and his five IPL centuries are testimony to his batting prowess. He is joint-second on the list of players with the most centuries in IPL history, with Chris Gayle leading the pack with six.
Buttler would be looking to get back to his marauding best against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The English white ball captain has a good record against KKR, having scored 370 runs at an average of 39, with a SR of 140.15 in 11 innings.
In this article, we will look at Jos Buttler's three best knocks against KKR in the IPL so far.
Jos Buttler's 3 best knocks vs KKR in IPL
#3. 39 (22), 49th Match, Eden Gardens, IPL 2018
It was a very interesting Eden Gardens wicket in this IPL 2018 match, with one end having a nice green covering of grass conducive to strokeplay, while the other end was dry, assisting the spinners.
With KKR playing two quality spinners in Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav, it was necessary for the RR openers to capitalize on the initial overs bowled by the pacers.
And who better than Jos Buttler to take on the pacers with his fluent strokeplay?
He took the attack to rookie Shivam Mavi and plundered him for 28 runs in the third over of the innings, racing to 30 off just 11 deliveries.
KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik then brought in Sunil Narine, who put a check on the RR run rate. The Royals struggled to get going, forcing them to play rash shots and costing them their wickets.
Buttler, who was on course to notch his sixth consecutive half-century that season, attempted to reverse sweep a fuller delivery, but only managed to edge it to short third man. He departed for a well-made 39 from 22 deliveries.
#2. 41 (22), 5th Match, Eden Gardens, IPL 2016
On a belter of a surface at Eden Gardens, Jos Buttler played a blinder of an innings for the then-defending champion Mumbai Indians.
KKR posted a challenging total of 187/5 with useful contributions from Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey, who laid the foundation for a big score for their side. But the real impetus for the inning came from Andre Russell, who plundered 36 off 17 to propel the total past 180.
The MI batsmen replied in kind in their innings, but a mini-collapse in the middle overs meant they needed to score 80 runs off the last eight overs with seven wickets in hand.
Jos Buttler joined hands with skipper Rohit Sharma and started playing with controlled aggression. He picked his bowlers and took on Andre Russell specifically to almost win it for MI before getting out. He finished with a fantastic 41 off 22.
#1. 103 (61), 30th Match, Brabourne Stadium, IPL 2022
With a nice covering of grass on the Brabourne pitch and a short boundary on one side, a high-scoring thriller was inevitable in the encounter between RR and KKR in 2022.
With initial movement from Umesh Yadav troubling him and getting a number of inside edges, Jos Buttler decided to bide his time even in the powerplay.
With Varun Chakravarthy coming into the attack, Buttler decided to pounce on him and smoked a six and a four in the fourth over, which settled his nerves a bit.
He then started taking on the KKR pacers at will and completed his half century in just 30 balls.
But he didn't stop his strokemaking and kept getting a boundary or two in every over, which means his next 53 runs came off just 29 deliveries, and his century came in 59 deliveries. His knock of 103 (61) proved to be the decisive factor as RR beat KKR by just seven runs.
